"Keuthmann takes care of the special expectations put upon our raw materials"

Long-term, reliable partnerships are an important part of the fruit and vegetable industry, not only in times of crisis. Fruit salad producer mirontell and the Berlin wholesaler Keuthmann, who have been working closely together for 30 years, have such a partnership: "Keuthmann has been our supplier from the very beginning. The first fruit processed at mirontell came from Keuthmann," says Rick Marwitz from mirontell fein & frisch.

There are very special specifications for the fruit that goes into processing: "We use much larger calibers than one would find in the trade, because we naturally want to use as much as possible from one fruit. This special calibration is particularly important for apples and melons," explains Marwitz. However, this is not the only requirement: "For example, we only buy crownless pineapples that one wouldn't find in the retail trade. We need special Brix values and special ripeness levels. In addition, we are placing more emphasis on the appearance of the fruit - it must be fresh and appealing, especially when it comes to salads with the skin on. Our wholesale partner Keuthmann therefore carries out important preliminary work in the procurement of the perfect fruit for the perfect results in mirontell production."

Rick Marwitz from mirontell with Patrick Hagemann and Orzay Hintze at the Keuthmann stand at the Berlin wholesale market.

Marwitz sees the advantages of partial procurement via Keuthmann instead of a general direct import: "We could of course also import goods by container ourselves, but then we only know what is coming until the cargo arrives here. For our fruit salads, we have special expectations of the raw materials that Keuthmann takes care of for us. They do excellent preparatory work."

The convenience store is known for fast, complete delivery without compromise. On the other hand, they occasionally drive from supermarket to supermarket to find the fruit for additional orders. In order to avoid this, the mirontell team relies on the delivery by Keuthmann. "We order in the morning and can receive deliveries twice a day. Keuthmann is the only wholesale company in Berlin that has this trust from us."

After 30 years of cooperation, they manage to get through difficult times together: "Even during the lockdown, when we had to reduce our production very much, we had a hot wire to Keuthmann. We coordinate our efforts, we talk about trends, innovations, the markets in Berlin and in Germany. We also decide together where our fruit is sourced from." One could also discuss how to determine the quantities: "Slowly but surely, the catering trade is reopening, which has a positive effect on the volumes- but only together can we ensure the availability of goods."

Therefore the two companies work together on the "It's starting again" weeks of mirontell. "We hope to return to the production quantities pre-Corona as soon as possible. Until late summer we want to get back into normal waters. This year will not be a normal business year, everyone knows that. By next year, we hope to have overcome the problems.