REO Veiling pays a lot of attention to tomatoes, because last year, tomatoes had the highest turnover for the first time ever. This is mostly the result of the expansion of growers in the region. “This summer, a new, ten-hectare greenhouse will be taken into use across the street for REO Veiling, and a second block of ten hectares will be built soon as well. The plans are concrete and developments continue moving,” says Dominiek Keersebilck, commercial manager of REO Veiling. “We’re dedicated to making Roeselare a reference for tomatoes and other greenhouse vegetables.”
French market
The considerable increase in tomato supply at REO Veiling isn’t just the result of the expansions in Roeselare and surroundings, it’s also due to the continued development of the auction in France. “This season, we went further into France, all the way to Normandy. We have a grower there who’s been in production since April, and their French vine and beefsteak tomatoes are marketed through REO Veiling,” Dominiek explains. “Sales are going quite well, and we’ve noticed France hasn’t been self-supporting in tomatoes for a long time. We were already active on the French market anyway, and the French just prefer French product, so we met that demand.”
Increase in supply figures
“The expansions in France and Belgium resulted in a considerable increase in supply figures. Before the end of June, we had sold nearly ten million kilos of loose tomatoes, which is almost 24 per cent more than last year. Besides, we’re also seeing an increase in vine tomatoes, up to late June we sold eight million kilos, which is about 2.4 million kilos more than last year. However, we can’t exactly be satisfied, price-wise. Many productions arrived at the same time, and this oversupply affected all of Europe,” Dominiek continues. In the coming months, REO Veiling will continue to be dedicated to tomatoes, in all segments: from specialities to the Coeur de Boeuf range, from beefsteak tomatoes to vine tomatoes. “Additionally, our manager of production, Rik Decadt, will be given more room to actively work on the development and implementation of new varieties.”
Sales guarantee, payment guarantee and brand policy
Although the greenhouse vegetable growers in the Roeselare region continue to grow due to developments, the commercial manager isn’t worried about losing growers who choose to sell their own product. “Last season during a strategic exercise, a young cucumber grower told us his company had become too large to work without the auction. The grower was happy he didn’t have to take care of his own sales, and that he could always sell his product through REO Veiling. These are the trump cards of REO Veiling. We can unburden companies in such a way by means of sales guarantees, payment guarantees and brand policy.”
“Definitely retaining our DNA as outdoor auction”
“In the future, we want to approach our growers more actively during the pre-trajectory and to be more dedicated to the development of new varieties, in addition to developments in Belgium and France. However, we’ll definitely not forget our other products, such as outdoor vegetables, and we’ll definitely retain our DNA as an outdoor auction. Regarding supply, leek is still our biggest product, and despite the development of the greenhouse vegetable range, we also want to be dedicated to other products of REO Veiling,” Dominiek concludes.
For more information:
Dominiek Keersebilck
REO Veiling
Oostnieuwkerksesteenweg 101
8800 Roeselare, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)51 231 211
info@reo.be
www.reo-veiling.be