In December, Euro Asian Fruit will have operated a warehouse in the Netherlands for three years. It supplies the Asian community in Europe from ABC Westland in Poeldijk. Its clientele recently increased substantially. "We've built a good name within the Asian community; our next goal is to serve European retail," begins Tony Chen enthusiastically.
"We've always strived to bring the taste of home to Asians in Europe and to provide the European market with reasonably priced fresh fruit and vegetables from Asia and Latin America. With the largest Asian chains in Germany and the Netherlands as customers, we absolutely cannot complain about sales. But to grow further, we want to introduce European retail to our products, too."
Euro Asia Fruit has been based in Madrid for 18 years, but since much of its trade arrives via the Netherlands, it opened a branch there in 2020. "A strategic decision, which has paid off. We operate completely independently with Germany, France, and the United Kingdom as the main sales countries," says Tony, adding that sales in the Netherlands still lag somewhat. "The Dutch aren't afraid to try something new. They just pay less attention to food than, say, people in the southern European countries."
The company's product assortment includes mushrooms, tropical fruit, and fresh leafy and root vegetables. It wants to initially profile itself toward retail with Asian mushrooms, like Shimeji, Enoki, and Eryngi, and Thai Easy Open coconuts. "These products are already somewhat well known, and we think European consumers are truly ready for them. Recently, Cristiano Ronaldo even posted a video on Instagram with our coconuts," Tony exclaims.
"We have direct lines to suppliers in countries like China, Korea, and Thailand. That's perfect for supermarkets. They can, of course, buy the exotics from us. But we can also support them in direct contact with the supplier, relieving them of worries throughout the supply chain. We only work with GlobalGAP-certified suppliers. Fortunately, sea freight rates have stabilized somewhat, although rates increased in November again."
Euro Asian Fruit outsources its logistical service to focus purely on operations. "We check all the products, box by box. That's quite challenging and you can't let a casual worker check the exotic trade," Chen says. He confidently looks forward to the winter. "In the summer, we sold plenty of Asian leafy vegetables from the Dutch greenhouses, but our import season - mainly from outside Europe - is really getting going now."
"Our global grower network means we can supply supermarkets with large volumes. We're, thus, sure we can expand these sales towards European supermarkets. We'll participate in Fruit Logistica in Berlin for the first time next year. We've taken part in the fair in Madrid in other years, but we think the event in Berlin will be even more international," 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