Every day, Van Ooijen Groenten en Fruit buys a considerable volume of fresh fruit and vegetables at the auctions at BelOrta and Hoogstraten, but in recent months this amount been considerably less due to the Corona measures. "We have quite a few catering suppliers and they weren't buying anything for a long time. Many export customers on the English market are often catering related. And when the catering industry was allowed to open again, we had two weeks of rain, so all in all it has not been favourable. Fortunately, now that the cafe terraces can be fully opened again, there will also be more demand from this segment," says Robert van Ooijen.
"The prices of the greenhouse vegetables are low across the board. Peppers have been reasonably priced, but have also been a lot cheaper in recent weeks. On Monday, the prices of the vine tomatoes rose slightly for the first time in a long time, but that was also badly needed. The last few weeks a lot of product has poured in from all sides. Aubergines are now around 80/90 cents, which is not a luxury but acceptable for the time of year as they are also very cheap," says Robert.
The specialties are a positive outlier in the greenhouse vegetable market. "They continue to do well. Small snack tomatoes such as Cherrystar and Mini Lilly have also made good money in recent weeks."
"The strawberries also remain at a high price, although you can see a big difference between the strawberries from the open ground and the covered cultivation. The latter went well above 3 euros on Monday and I expect the strawberries to remain expensive. Prices of the other summer fruits are quite normal. The price of red berries is around 1 Euro. The supply of cherries is already starting to decrease again. We did not participate in this as much this year. Previously you could buy per producer and we always did our bit, but with the block sale you just have to wait and see which cherries you get and with the current prices you just have bad cherries for 5 to 6 euros per kilo," Robert observes.
For over 25 years, Van Ooijen Groenten en Fruit has been active in serving its Dutch customers with fruit and vegetables from the Belgian auctions. "Our motto is: bought in the morning, delivered in the afternoon. This meets the needs of many Dutch fresh produce companies. Belgians are known for paying a lot of attention to the products. This allows them to distinguish themselves from other countries. Our three self-certified inspectors provide the purchased products with an additional quality control before we deliver them to our customers. When customers buy from us, they know they are getting great business," concludes Robert.
For more information:
Robert van Ooijen
Groente end fruit import van Ooijen B.V.
Linnenstraat 3
2988 XL Ridderkerk - The Netherlands
Auction: +3215565531
Mobile: +31651545998
robert@vanooijenbv.nl
www.vanooijenbv.nl