As one of the founding members in 1994, the Recht company has actively shaped the development of Elbe Obst Vertriebsgesellschaft from the very beginning. Today, the family-owned company based in Osterladekop, in the heart of the Alte Land, acts predominantly as a reliable partner in the association of the shareholders of the Elbe-Obst Vertriebsgesellschaft and the Elbe-Obst producer organization. Over the years, all shareholders have grown together to form a good team. We spoke with Stefan and Sonja Recht on site about this year's season, trends in apple cultivation and sales, and the future of the company.
Warehouse clearance is also progressing rapidly at the Recht family. Braeburn is almost cleared, and Elstar marketing is now visibly accelerating. The Jonagold group is mostly saved for the last phase of the season in the summer. "For Elstar in particular, current grower prices are not adequate. This is already leading to many fruit farms either quitting or fundamentally reorienting themselves," Stefan Recht describes the current conditions.
Stefan Recht shows regional Kanzi in the 4-pack.
Comprehensive trading and logistics activities
Recht's core competence is the trade as well as the service around the regionally produced pome fruit, for example the preparation, packaging as well as the transport of apples.
Recht: "As a shareholder of Elbe Obst Vertriebsgesellschaft, we primarily take care of the standard programs, i.e. Braeburn, Elstar, Jonagold Group and Kanzi. The latter has now established itself as an established club variety and has also been firmly listed with discounters for a few years. The variety is in high demand throughout the year and is usually available by week 24 from regional cultivation. I am also curious to see how the latest variety concepts, whether Fräulein or the exclusive Aldi variety, will develop. I could also imagine that the variety on offer will eventually become too large and that there will be a corresponding lack of shelf space for new variety concepts."
Despite the difficult starting position of the northern German apple industry, the Recht family is looking positively ahead. "The cooperative structure of Elbe Obst and the good cooperation within Elbe-Obst Vertriebsgesellschaft guarantee us a certain security of goods and sales, which is lacking nowadays in many medium-sized companies that are set up individually. In addition, we continue to feel synergy effects between our trading and logistics activities, for example in return freight and the like. The driver shortage, which is also being reported more and more frequently in fruit logistics, has also affected us less so far. We have four permanent truck drivers and thus continue to see ourselves equipped for the future."
The three-man team of the Recht company: (from left) Stefan, Sonja and Jan-Luca Recht.
Planned capacity expansion
Nevertheless, further investments have been put on hold for the time being due to the crisis years. "We are committed to expand our capacities, especially our packaging facilities," he says. However, we will now first tackle the issue of photovoltaics. Furthermore, we hope for the entire apple industry, but especially for growers, that after two extremely difficult years, better years will come," concludes Recht.
Further information:
Stefan Recht
Recht Fruchtgroßhandel & Logistik GmbH & Co. KG
21635 Jork
info@recht-frucht.de
www.recht-frucht.de