With seasons of uncharacteristic heat, but also heavy rainfall, climate change has significantly affected fruit and vegetable cultivation in Thailand over the past year, says Nicola Winter of Winter Trading GmbH. "Particularly in the area of green asparagus, we had problems with cultivation all year round and occasionally extreme shortages. The negative effects of climate change are also unfortunately noticeable in the chili crops. Other products, such as lemongrass, mangoes (Nam Dok Mai), and passion fruits, are however more robust and less susceptible to weather. Our main task will be to adapt to the circumstances. Accordingly, we are already in the process of expanding our producer network in other cultivation areas of Thailand and planting more robust varieties."
Sliced Jackfruit
The Hamburg-based company operates as the sales office of the parent company Koerner Agro, based in the Thai capital Bangkok, and is responsible for the import and distribution of the fresh products produced there and flown in by plane. The Covid crisis was a severe setback for the entire industry in the area of air freight. Meanwhile, the situation has somewhat normalized and the freight costs have been stable for months. Winter: "However, the freight rate is still very high and accounts for about 60 percent of our product price. This is a major disadvantage, particularly in price competition with other origins. In addition, due to the increase in freight prices and minimum quantities since the beginning of the pandemic, we have unfortunately lost many smaller customers that we could no longer serve."
Thai produce. Clockwise: Baby corn, Pitahaya or Dragon fruit, Nam Dok Mai mangoes and Mangosteen.
The range of products offered by Koerner Agro includes chili, lemongrass, green asparagus, passion fruits, Pitahaya, turmeric, banana leaves, and baby corn. The company supplies renowned partners of the European retail food trade throughout Europe, including Nature's Pride for over 20 years. "We try to find about one to two good customers in each country and rely on stable, long-term partnerships. Although weather, freight, and inflation have driven up the prices of our already high-priced products, I see no significant buying reluctance. Therefore, the sales and sales figures have remained relatively stable. On a product level, we find that particularly in Germany, our tasty sweet Thai passion fruits have gained in importance," Winter further summarizes.
Left: Loading at origin, right: Jackfruit on the tree.
Pilot project with frozen products
In the fight against food waste and for a more sustainable business model, Koerner Agro has converted one of three packing houses to process overproduction and export it as frozen food to Europe. "This is initially a pilot project with a total of four products, namely lemongrass, jackfruit, chili, and baby corn. We will also highlight this project at Fruit Logistica and are curious to see the response." Finally, Winter also commented on the strikes at German airports. Because Frankfurt, the hub of Winter Trading's air imports, is also one of the affected airports. "So far, there have been no failures due to the strikes at the airports. But we have probably been lucky so far."
Excerpt from the range of Körner Agro. Clockwise: Green asparagus, turmeric, Tainong passion fruits, and okra. The passion fruit season is now slowly ending. From April, the company will gradually start with Rambutan and Mangosteen.
Visit the company at Fruit Logistica: Hall 26 / F-31
For more information:
Nicola Winter
Winter Trading GmbH / Koerner Agro
Hamburg, Germany
Tel : (+49) 40-47195505
Fax : (+49) 40-41266282
nicola@koerneragro.com
www.koerneragro.com