Catalonian fruit merchants in Holland
To know first hand success strategies from the main Dutch fruit companies and restrengthen the strategic position in Europe of companies from Ribera d'Ebre were the main objectives for this travel of several representatives of the Grupo Frutal and La Como - La Capelleta de Benissanet to Rotterdam. According to the CCRE speaker, Antonio Suárez, "we had working meetings with seven Dutch companies and visited their facilities to learn from their experience and to apply it in Ribera d'Ebre". Suárez highlighted "that the sweet fruit quality is known in the European market and we will keep on working in the companies to improve its commerce internationally". Suárez also revealed that "next we will have a working meeting with the different fruit companies in Ribera to explain to them the different possibilities for international competitive positioning, starting with the knowledge of the buying criteria for big platforms and fruit distribution in the Netherlands".
Among the visited companies the highlight goes to Bakker Barendrecht, a company in the Univeg group, considered to be a world leader in sweet fruit, present in 25 countries. They also visited Fresh Park Venlo, part of GreenPorts, a cluster with more than a hundred supplying companies. Other companies that were visited were Hispafruit, specialized in peach, nectarine, cherry and apricot; Olympicfruit and The Greenery.