"The spring sunshine is boosting the demand for sweet corn. We had a strong start to the Senegalese season, then had a slight sales dip, which caused turnover to lag behind expectations," says Con Storm of Hermans Suikermais, a Dutch company.
"But now, with the spring weather, sales are picking up again. The season is excellent, quality-wise. Senegal has ample water, and logistics are good too; it takes just over a week for the Senegalese corn to arrive in Antwerp."
"There's plenty of supply from Senegal, and Morocco will start in a few weeks. So, there are many promotional opportunities, but retailers must want to allocate shelf space to fresh sweet corn," says Con.
"Unfortunately, several still prefer the vacuum-packed products. Hopefully, the early Easter will be a good chance to change that. Fresh corn sales are trending upwards, and a broader customer base is developing."
"In addition to supermarkets and wholesale clients in the Netherlands we've served for years, demand from the food service, meal box suppliers, and ethnic supermarkets is growing. We're looking forward to preparing for the Dutch season and hope that in a few weeks, it'll be warm and dry enough to sow. The weather is drying things up quite nicely," concludes Con, responsible for sales and sourcing at Hermans Suikermais.
For more information:
Hermans Suikermais
1a Donk
5995 PL, Kessel, The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0) 774 629 325
Mob.: +31 (0) 651 312 426
con@mielies.nl
www.mielies.nl