Last November, Rick Rebergen and Helien Verhagen made Portugal their permanent home. Helien has been in the exotic fruits and vegetables sales business for years.
In recent years, she has been especially busy with Portuguese sweet potato sales. Rick was active in fruit and vegetable automation for decades but has now also started marketing new fresh produce concepts in Portugal. The East4Fresh partners are currently working on introducing the Goco Nutty coconut concept.
"In the Algarve, opportunities to deliver high and consistent quality fruit and vegetables abound. That's something that's still sometimes lacking," begins Rick. East4Fresh, a Dutch company, has been selling Thai coconuts for several years. With Goco Nutty, Helien and Rick see great possibilities to market white, unroasted coconuts with an Easy-to-Open system as a Ready-to-Drink idea. "Stick a straw in, and you have delicious, raw, healthy coconut water."
The official concept launch is planned for March 1, 2024, and East4Fresh is initially seeking sales locally in the Algarve. "You typically buy coconuts when it's sunny, which it is for 300 days a year here. We researched the market intensively in recent months and see plenty of potential for sales towards beach and trendy bars, boutique hotels, festivals, and festival events. But it won't stop there, as the first supermarkets have already decided they want in," says Rick.
"The product finds itself in a good position. Unprocessed coconut water, like Goco Nutty, contains many important minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, sodium, and calcium. These electrolytes can provide proper hydration. Thus, coconut water hydrates you better than water, which makes it the perfect post-workout drink. We want to target the youth who are far more concerned with their health than usual. Spa and wellness centers are also very interested."
Tourism - The World Travel Awards recently named Portugal as Europe's best tourist destination - means there are endless possibilities for success. "We'll support our customers with their marketing, including creating a table-side experience with our "Mocktail menu". And, using rum and tequila, you can mix the perfect cocktail. There are opportunities in Spain, too; logistically, we're not far from the Spanish border. We're definitely thinking bigger, but want to start small before rolling out the concept further in Europe," Rick continues.
East4Fresh is working on getting cold storage at its premises in the Algarve to offer coconuts year-round. "There's a huge demand in Portugal for high-quality fruits and vegetables of consistent quality and delivery. We're going to respond to that with a high service level and delivery reliability. Goco Nutty is the first project we're taking on, but we absolutely see chances to start other exotic fruit projects."
Longer sweet potato season
Also, the Portuguese sweet potato season is in full swing. "We've attracted several growers in both the organic and conventional segments. They're located a bit further north in Portugal, so we could start with organic sweet potatoes as early as late August and conventional in mid-September. We've thus managed to extend our season by six to eight weeks," Helien says enthusiastically.
Bellevue is the cultivation company's main variety, but East4Fresh is also hard at work developing the white Murasaki sweet potato and new purple varieties. "We want to focus more on color and flavor diversity with our Portuguese sweet potatoes. Demand for particularly purple sweet potatoes is exploding. The white Bonita variety is in great demand, too, which I think is the tastiest sweet potato available on the market."
Helien cannot complain about the demand for Portuguese sweet potatoes. "Despite competition from the large Egyptian supply, sales are excellent. Though, Egypt isn't a true competitor, quality-wise. There's lots of cheaper trade on the market, but we maintain our quality standards and make no concessions. That means we can guarantee continuity for our retail clients. That, despite huge volumes last year, we had only one claim the entire season says it all," she concludes.
For more information:
Rick Rebergen / Helien Verhagen
East4Fresh
Mob: +31 (0) 643 92 99 00 / +31 (0) 683 244 661
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Website: www.east4fresh.nl