left to right: Raymond Verspuy (fruit and veg.specialist Makro Barendrecht) Bert Schottelndreier (Makro), Marijn van der Sloot, René van Dommele (De Groot International), Jan van den Adel (Direct Source International) and Leo van den Heuvel (Hillfresh)
Bert Schottelndreier, buyer at Makro, shares his vision of the chain and the approach of Makro in particular. "The developments in Makro, the competitive European market and the global developments in the supply of fruit and vegetables, combined with the objectives of Makro Nederland demand that we make choices. To look for short lines, direct contact with the source and transparent communication, that is what Makro is looking for.
"Partnership and specialty is what we need, distribution and innovation, the correct quality at an honest price, supplied by growers with passion, who recognise the high value of taste and food safety," Bert Schottelndreier continues. "In order to achieve this we want to keep a grip on the chain and work closely together with enthusiastic partners, who supply the correct quality and volume and also supply us with correct (market) information. To think with us up to the shelf and the customer is what we expect from our partners. In the case of the promotion mentioned we have organised this with Fruitveiling Zuid-Limburg, De Groot International, Hillfresh and Direct Source International, each in its own area a specialist, as can be seen below:
Fruitveiling Zuid Limburg:
When asked by Makro to work together with Makro on a top quality fruit bucket we were immediately enthusiastic! Apart from supplying the product we have joined in establishing how to arrange this logistically as efficiently as possible. In direct contact with fellow suppliers we were able to organise this quite well with the result of optimum freshness for the customer.
De Groot:
"This bucket action, of which we have been able to be part with our product, made the importance of cooperation with an organisation like Makro clear to us and it shows that this cooperation is profitable looking at the results achieved with Makro."
"This bucket action, of which we have been able to be part with our product, made the importance of cooperation with an organisation like Makro clear to us and it shows that this cooperation is profitable looking at the results achieved with Makro."
Hillfresh:
"The new way of cooperation gives partners the possibility to introduce new products together with Makro and to develop existing product lines further. During the last year we have successfully introduced the taste melon concept." The cooperation between Makro and Hillfresh has only very tasty fruit of course.
Direct Source International:
Together with our (chain)partners, such as Hoekstra Fruit (South Africa), Freshtrop Fruits (India), Pineapple Company (Costa Rica), Vitasouss (Morocco) and others we fulfill the expectations of Makro. With pleasure we have cooperated in this successful action, a confirmation that Direct (from the) Source has a future for both the grower and the retailer!
"All of these passionate companies with their own approach and specialty" according to Bert. "I am therefore confident about the coming years!"