Yesterday, the first shipment of Egyptian strawberries arrived at Bij LuBa Fresh in the Netherlands. "They barely touched the ground. Customers fought over them; I even had to turn some away, but fortunately, we got another load today," says Lucien de Wit.
"The minimal Dutch supply contributes and demand is simply huge. Many Egyptian strawberries usually find their way to German Christmas markets, where they're, for instance, dipped in chocolate. These firm varieties, like Fortuna and Sensation, are well suited for that. Germany is clearly in the highest demand mode."
Lucien and Luuk de Wit of LuBa Fresh
"The current price of €9 to €9.50 is very high by Egyptian standards, but don't forget, costs have skyrocketed in that country. Neither are there indications of a possible market collapse," Lucien explains. "Reports are that the harvest is similar to other years. However, that's slowed down somewhat. The volume is similar to last year's and will continue until January 1."
Lucien says the biggest challenge is to get enough cargo space on flights. "In other years, we had strawberries come by boat, but that didn't benefit us enough. We receive shipments three to four times a week at multiple airports. We can, thus, ensure a short chain. The strawberries harvested over the weekend came in overnight and were already on their way to clients yesterday," he concludes.
For more information:
Luciën de Wit
LuBa Fresh
Tel: +31 (0) 777 777 715
Mob: +31 (0) 641 273 443
Email: L.deWit@LuBaFresh.com
Website: www.LuBaFresh.com