At the start of the import season for Chinese pomelos, importers of de Groot International indicated they expect there will be 30% less pomelos available for export to Europe this season. This percentage certainly hasn't come down since the season started a few weeks ago. "It looks as if even less pomelos are coming our way due to the number of large sizes and a good local market," says Marijn van der Sloot.
"Demand for pomelos is reasonably high, especially with traditional pomelo customers from Central and Eastern Europe like Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Eastern Germany," says Marijn. "Sales in the Netherlands remain problematic. Dutch consumers are too unfamiliar with the product. We do see an upward trend in sales in the Netherlands. Sales were close to zero here a few years ago, but fortunately they are improving."
De Groot International offers pomelos all year round under their own brand name of Don Mario. Price levels of pomelos are higher than last year and Marijn expects the markets to improve further in the coming weeks because of lower volumes and a good local Asian market. "The quality of the pomelo's is good. Just as last year, there are strict MRL inspections, and nearly a quarter of all the arrivals in the Netherlands are checked. As a result of talks with the suppliers, everyone is well aware of the MRL demands from Europe. We get MRL reports from China even before the shipments. This does require some time, but it is workable and we haven't had any MRL problems to date."
For more information
De Groot international
Tel: 073-5998888
www.degrootinternational.nl