Commercial enterprise Top Harvest was founded in 2016, but has now expanded its range considerably. “Considering our strong connections to the West African continent, it made sense to us to start offering African products on the European market in addition to Belgian fresh produce. To be distinctive, we choose to only work by air, because tree-ripened products are more flavourful,” says Nicolas Vandenbogaerde of Top Harvest.
Nicolas Vandebogaerde and Delphine Vanhaelewyn
“As young entrepreneurs, my wife Delphine Vanhaelewyn and I see that the healthy lifestyle trend can’t be ignored among the younger population. Besides flavour experience, the story behind the product is important as well. We work with local farmers who don’t yet have the knowledge and experience to market their own products at fair prices,” Nicolas says. “The biggest obstacle within our project is organisation. Everyone knows that Africa is a continent of potential, but the organisation to successfully work there continues to be a major challenge.”
Mango, pineapple and papaya
“We currently get mango, pineapple and papaya from West Africa. Because of the persistent drought, volumes will be lower than last year, which means prices will be higher. In addition to West Africa, Mexico is also in production regarding avocados, and Israel and Spain will start soon as well. Pakistan has some mangoes, but not the Kent variety,” Nicolas continues. The pineapple market is dealing with some shortages. Fewer volumes of flown pineapple from Latin America are available. However, because of the colder weather in Europe, consumption is somewhat lacking. “Papaya is still a niche market, and volumes are still fairly small. We’ve seen demand increasing specifically in Germany, but it’s still a fairly small product.”
Flavour experience
“Besides the traditional exotics, we would like to introduce the typically African avocado on the European market. It’s much larger than the well-known Hass avocado, and has a green skin. Flavour is very good, and we definitely see potential for this avocado on the European market. As we said before, we’re looking for flavour experience by means of a selection of suppliers and products, and that’s how we want to honour our company name,” Nicolas concludes.
For more information:
Nicolas Vandenbogaerde
Top Harvest
Kapelleweg 9A
8700 Tielt (Schuiferskapelle) - Belgium
+32 (0)51 80 23 49
+32(0) 472 471813
nicolas@topharvest.be
www.topharvest.be
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