Almost five years ago, Thomas Duijs took over the company DugroFood from his uncle Jan. Although operations have expanded rapidly in recent years, he is determined not to grow too fast. "We work fresher than anyone else, I dare say. We always buy and sell on the same day. Nobody does that anymore."
"My family has always run shops, and I know how frustrating it is when you get older stock delivered. That's where we set ourselves apart. In fact, we work in an old-school way. Nobody does that anymore, and it's a very expensive way of working, but one that makes our customers very happy," says Thomas.
© Dugro Food
He supplies a specific customer base, made up mainly of grocery shops, supplemented by some supermarkets and the hospitality industry. "Lately, we've also been supplying more and more patisseries and bakeries, because they often want truly fresh products as well. But our main focus is on specialist shops, that's where we are really geared. We serve specialists throughout North and South Holland. We don't want to deliver any further than that, either. The three of us work with three vans, and they each have to be filled and emptied once a day."
According to Thomas, customers are easy to find thanks to his approach. "Because of their volumes, large traders have to build up big stocks. That inevitably means old stock. We absolutely don't do that. We can't take on many more customers; three or four more would be enough. We could easily grow faster, but we finance everything ourselves and prefer to take it slow."
The most expensive fruit there is
DugroFood is also selective in its product range. "The most expensive fruit there is, that's what we sell," Thomas laughs. "Our focus is on soft fruit, but we also sell a lot of tangerines and air-freighted mangoes. At the moment, we're also heavily into cherries and plums. Price doesn't really matter for most of our customers. It can cost anything, so to speak, as long as it's the very best. I carry a small range, but everything I have must be the best. That's what my customers want."
To achieve this, Thomas travels far and wide to find the best available produce. "Often this comes directly from growers, but we also buy from wholesalers, importers, or auctions, wherever the best produce is. Recently, we've also been going to Brussels regularly. We're certainly not the biggest player, but we do supply significant volumes of soft fruit. That's the most delicate produce there is, so it suits us perfectly!"
© Dugro FoodFor more information:
Thomas Duijs
Dugro Food
[email protected]
www.dugrofood.nl
