With about 75 employees, a total refrigerated area of about 2000m2 and well over 700 customers in the catchment area of Aachen, Siegen, Koblenz and Trier, Abel's Früchtewelt has been able to develop into an important partner of the (system) gastronomy, hotel industry and communal catering. Despite the high demands of the fast-paced catering industry, the Bonn-based company sees further growth potential, says managing director Nico Gaude in an interview on site.
Today, the company, which was founded in 1958, cooperates closely with its regional partners Manns in Hamm and Henning Broscheit in Mülheim an der Ruhr in the Fresh&Friends network. "We are all independent, although our focus is still on independent gastronomy. However, there are many synergy effects through the merger. For example, we have access to Manns' entire convenience range, to a large extent from our own production."
Nico Gaude has been at the helm of Bonn-based Gastroservice for about a year. He previously worked at Frischeparadies for about ten years.
Acquiring new customers is still a high priority, but the differences between the individual areas in the delivery radius are sometimes considerable, Gaude describes. "Concepts that go down well in Cologne, for example, don't work at all on the Mosel, and vice versa. It is therefore all the more important that we meet regularly with our field staff and evaluate the assortments of individual customers and sub-areas. We also try to offer our customers not only fruit and vegetables, but also additional products such as vegan concepts and dairy products, and thus gradually expand our share of sales to customers. The advantage is that we are needed every day as a fruit and vegetable supplier, whereas the big catering suppliers only deliver to their customers on certain days and on the basis of a minimum order value.
Abels Früchtewelt is a member of Fresh & Friends, an association of three fruit wholesalers in NRW. In addition, the company is also a member of the CF Gastro association.
Left: View of the company's exotic assortment
Right: Cresses from regional partner Dreesen Kräuter
"At the moment, I see the biggest growth in the Moselle region. Until a few years ago, the gastronomy and hotel industry there closed down mainly from November to March. In the meantime, however, this has completely changed and beautiful wellness hotels have emerged, which in turn have to be stocked all year round. The variety of culinary offerings has also developed accordingly," Gaude adds. "However, we also continue to see growth potential in Bonn and Cologne."
Baby spinach
Newly harvested and regional cabbage vegetables in reusable crates with a wooden look
Flexibility, reliability and trust
Even if the independent gastronomy sector works less with 'rigid specifications', the controlling of restaurants has become stricter in times of pandemic, he says. "People are more sensitised to costs and prices; that's why you can't buy without hesitation any more. Due to the sometimes extreme price fluctuations, communication with both the buyer and the supplier is extremely important. When it comes to freshness, you need an extremely flexible partner. Reliability and trust are crucial," Gaude concludes.
Convenience continues to gain importance in the catering industry. From 2013 to 2020, Abels had its own cutting facility.
Furhter Information:
Nico Gaude
Abels Früchtewelt GmbH
Justus-von-Liebig-Str.2
53121 Bonn
Tel.: +49 0228 6680-20
Fax: +49 0228 6680-222
Mail: info@abels-bonn.de
www.abels-bonn.de