It has been very busy in recent weeks at FruitMasters. "Of course we had the well-known hoarding weeks, but after that it actually continued to run continuously," says Zweer van Aalsburg of FruitMasters. "We have deployed many temporary workers extra to absorb the extra crowds. During the peak weeks, our packing station was operating 22 hours a day and now it is still 18 hours a day. When you have Christmas sales at Easter, then you absolutely can not complain. There are no ill effects of Corona here. "
"With our products, we are on the right side of the line," the supply manager realises. "Our apples are mainly going to domestic retail and those sales are at a good level. Many consumers are now going to the store once a week and the apple is a product of choice for a week's storage. The export of pears also continues to run well. In addition, we started using our second Smarpackr in April, which means that we can process extra kg with fewer staff. Beforehand, we had minor concerns about the soft fruit sales, but these have largely been resolved. If you look how many strawberries alone have been sold in recent week... "
Prices have also risen nicely in recent weeks. Both Conference pears and Elstar (Prestige) are now above the Euro. However, the stock of Elstar is larger than in previous years. Last year we discontinued Elstar on May 1, and this year we are expected to continue until mid-June. In addition to Dutch supermarkets, Germany and, to a lesser extent, France are also on the market for Elstar. With Kanzi we will switch to imports in the first week of June. The pear stocks are 14% lower. Demand for Conference pears is wide, England, Germany and Scandinavian countries are participating well and the Eastern European countries have now also joined. "
For more information:
Zweer van Aalsburg
FruitMasters
Deilseweg 7
Box 222
4190 CE Geldermalsen
Tel: 0031 (0) 345 578 808
Z.vanAalsburg@fruitmasters.nl
www.fruitmasters.com