The catering industry is slowly getting back on its feet after the difficult first half of the year. This means a sigh of relief for the wholesalers who have specialised in this sector. However, normality has not yet returned; public festivals in particular are painfully absent from the annual turnover of the companies. Ralf Rapp from Nuremberg-based company Rapp Früchte & Gemüse is well aware of this.
"The hot summer definitely worked for the hospitality industry, so after the lockdown things started to pick up again bit by bit. Nevertheless, we would now like to expand our delivery area and customer base even further in order to be able to deal better with crisis situations," says Rapp, who runs the company with his brother.
The trader's goods are sourced as much as possible from the Knoblauchsland: "Of course we don't get regional bananas or mangoes, but we are well supplied with vegetables for large parts of the year. We buy products such as tomatoes and cucumbers from regular producers and are very satisfied with them."
One definite problem is pricing: "We are in competition with the discounters. We should actually offer lower prices, but that is not possible. The meat sometimes costs less than the vegetables, which complicates our position". Especially in the big city, the price often comes first: "Some want regional products, others insist on organic, but often the focus is on the price. This is because of the high costs of a restaurant in a city centre and the big competition."
This is also a reason for Rapp to expand its delivery area: "It has some advantages to be able to supply even the more remote places. There are often only a few inns there and operators and guests tend to place more value on quality and regionality. At least that's my impression".
For more information:
Rapp Früchte & Gemüse
Ralf Rapp
Glogauer Straße 19
90473 Nürnberg
+49 911 81696565
rapp.fruechte@gmail.com
http://rapp-fruechte.de/