Euro Asia Fruit has been based in Madrid, Spain, for almost 15 years. In December last year, the Asian and Latin American exotics supplier also opened a warehouse in the Netherlands. It's at ABC Westland in Poeldijk. From there, it supplies the Asian community in Europe.
"We've always strived to bring the taste of the home to Asians in Europe. And to supply reasonably-priced fresh fruits and vegetables. These come from Asia and Latin America to the European market," says Tony Chen. He's the Dutch branch's manager.
Euro Asia Fruit's customers are Asian chains throughout Europe. "Germany and the UK are our main markets. But we deliver to all corners of Europe. Our goods used to already be imported through the Netherlands. Client demand was, however, increasing. And it wasn't easy to get third parties to fill specific requests. These included things like mixed pallets. So, we set up this location. We can now serve our customers from an even wider range of products."
This assortment currently consists of mushrooms, tropical fruit, root and fresh leafy vegetables. For this, Euro Asia Fruit works with partners in many Asian and Latin American countries. These include China, Colombia, Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Dominica, Honduras, South Korea, and Japan. "We're still looking to partner with Dutch growers of Asian leafy vegetables. We want to keep supplying our clients, particularly during the summer," said Tony.
These days, the best-sellers are Chinese nashi pears, pomelos, ginger, and eddoe. The company sources about 40 containers, on average. These come from countries like China, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. Current container prices do not make importing any easier. "Nowadays, you pay about $15.000 per container. That quadruples the price."
"It's also already sometimes quite a challenge to book containers," adds Tony. Still, stopping imports is not an option for Euro Asia Fruit. "If there's demand, we want to continue to serve our clients. Continuity is vital for the market. Airfreight from South America, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia is very pricey too."
The Dutch branch was a good move, says the location manager. "It's a well-known location in international trade, close to the ports. Logistically, it's ideal. From Spain, it used to take three days to get the trade to the UK. From here, we can deliver on the same day. However, Brexit has significantly affected exports to the UK. Products from third countries are now additionally taxed. That's why some UK customers are now importing directly."
According to Tony, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive effect on product sales. "People began cooking more at home. And they became even more aware of the importance of healthy eating. We focus explicitly on the higher-end segment and want to sell only A-class products."
"It's not for nothing that we have 12 employees who open every box. They check if the products meet our quality criteria. Strangely enough, in the Netherlands, our cheaper products sell better. People here are very price-conscious. In the southern countries, people spend more easily on high-quality goods," he says.
"Our goal isn't to become the biggest player, but one of the best. We want to broaden the range further. And we want to bring it to an even higher quality level. In the coming period, we'll also focus on introducing more environmentally friendly packaging. We want to replace Styrofoam and plastic with cardboard."
"There's generally an increase in demand for our product assortment. Besides the Asian target group, more and more native Europeans are trying our products. Things like pomelos and nashi pears are now standard in supermarkets' basic range," Tony concludes.
For more information:
Tony Chen
Euro Asia Fruit
427 ABC Westland
2685 DE, Poeldijk, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 624 344 225
EMail: [email protected]
Website: www.euroasiafruit.nl
