ARUS August Reimers & Son from Hamburg is a true full-line provider: "We market everything," says managing director Jörn Reimers. "But we're geared towards seasonal specialties in winter - our main products are citrus fruits in the winter, we trade strawberries and asparagus in the spring, and we've just come across more stone fruit - we have berries all year round." The company also imports all kinds of European goods into Germany.
The cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines which the company trades are almost exclusively Spanish: "We prefer the Spanish product to other origins, such as Italy, and the quality of Spanish goods is usually better." The volumes are unfortunately still very weak at the moment, Reimers knows: "This is due to the weather. Strawberries are suffering from the same problem, even though the German season should already be in full swing."
Apricots have always been early and plentiful, but this year particularly so. "The harvest in Spain was very good - unfortunately, sales do not correspond. It just needs to get warmer." In recent years, the expert has observed a trend in the cultivation of these fruits: "As in France, Spain has started growing more flavorful varieties and placing more emphasis on quality than quantity." This is now the strategy for many Spanish products, he notes. "By producing better varieties, Spain is gradually losing its reputation as a cheap producing country."
Interim balance for the asparagus season
Just over a month before the official end of the asparagus season, Reimers is ready to draw an interim conclusion. "The asparagus season really started very early - we already had the first German volumes from heated cultivation in our assortment at the beginning of March, so we completely skipped the Greek season this year." If you have German asparagus, you do not need anything else. " The prices were better than last year, which certainly was a recovery after the disappointing previous year. That would be, among other things, the increased minimum wages, Reimers explains. "Producers need to be more careful about selling their goods at a higher price so they can cover their costs, but in the end, that's a good thing, because everyone in the value chain can still make money from asparagus."
Green asparagus is a growing segment for ARUS GmbH. This is also due to the popularity of the product in other European countries: "In many southern European countries, no white asparagus are being grown. People will spend their holidays there and they see what can be done with the green varieties, and then want these dishes when they get back home."
The ARUS August Reimers & Sohn GmbH supplies Edeka and Rewe markets within a radius of over one hundred kilometers around Hamburg: "With our ten lorries, we directly supply the markets in the area - from Lübeck to the Alte Land and Lüneburg."
For more information:
Jörn Reimers
ARUS August Reimers & Sohn GmbH
Auf der Brandshofer Schleuse 4
Gang K Stand 414/415
20097 Hamburg
Phone: (0 40) 3 25 85 00
E-Mail: info@arusgmbh.de
Web: www.arusgmbh.de