This week, Nutland opened a brand new office in Koblenz, Germany. This is the dried fruit and nuts importer and supplier's third European branch. Nutland's head office is in the Netherlands. It opened a branch in the UK in 2017 too. "We consider Germany to be our top growth market. That's why we want to be close to the action," says managing director, Rody van der Horst.
For now, a single German-speaking employee will run Nutland GmbH office. The company plans to gradually expand the German team. Logistics and back-office operations will remain in the Netherlands. Van der Horst points out that this growth is an important step for Nutland.
"Koblenz is centrally located in Germany. It has good road and rail connections. There are also several airports within easy reach. That makes that site an ideal base of operation for the German sales market. We have now reduced our distance to Austria and Switzerland. So we see growth potential in these German-speaking countries too."
The Halsenbach office, directly on the German A61 highway.
Organic and conventional bulk goods
Nutland BV is an international wholesale business. It supplies nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, and dried fruit. The company has been very active in the German market for several years. It is a fixture at recognized food fairs. These include the Anuga in Cologne and the BioFach in Nuremberg. "We focus primarily on the retail and wholesale sectors. In Germany, these still have a considerable market share. We also supply bulk goods to the processing industry," says the MD.
Nutland is a recognized player in both the conventional and organic markets. "In recent years, there has been a huge growth in the organic segment. Most of our legumes are organic. The nuts and dried fruit's organic share is increasing considerably. But we also do a lot of conventional products. Our trade mark is, however, to supply mainly combined loads of multiple products. These are organic as well as conventional. As far as we're concerned, that's where the added value for our clients lies."
Approaching high season
Opening this German branch was in the pipeline even before the coronavirus outbreak. "At most, COVID-19 caused a slight delay. We are, however, still well in time for the usual high season. That lasts from about September to Christmas." Van der Horst notes that the coronavirus pandemic might ultimately have a positive, rather than negative, effect on Nutland's activities. "It's had a fairly limited impact on many segments in our sector. On the contrary - there's even more focus on healthy food," Rody concludes.
For more information:
Nutland GmbH
36A Am Eichelgärtchen
D-56283 Halsenbach
Germany
+31 (0) 708 209 777
Email: info@nutland.de