The firm S.C. van Ravenswaaij from Veenendaal has been active as a wholesaler in potatoes, fruit and vegetables for 85 years. Today the company is supported by three pillars. Besides wholesale the company has also been exporting to the Russian market under the name Ravex Interational for years and the company also has its own shop chain with over forty locations. "The mix is ideal", says Christiaan van Ravenswaaij. "The large sizes of the oranges that we import go to our export company, the medium sortings go to the shops and the small sizes go to the market dealers. This way we have a market for everything. This makes it more attractive to import ourselves."
The different sales channels also provide a good distribution of work throughout the year, according to the manager of Van Ravenswaaij. "In the Winter our export branch is busier and during sunnier weather more retailers come to our wholesalers." The third generation of the Van Ravenwaaij family is now also fully active within the company and a few members of the family can be found in every branch. Christiaan believes this is a huge advantage. "If we make a loss, we all suffer."
43 shops
De Goudreinet means that Van Ravenswaaij has 43 shops at the moment and the total amount of staff has passed the 400 mark. Flowers are also sold in the Goudreinet shops and this is their only venture outside the fruit and vegetable trade. "The number of shops is reasonably stable. We've never had more than 50," says Christiaan. "The shops are all within a 100 kilometre radius around Veenendaal and we've built up a good name for ourselves over the years."
The different sales channels also provide a good distribution of work throughout the year, according to the manager of Van Ravenswaaij. "In the Winter our export branch is busier and during sunnier weather more retailers come to our wholesalers." The third generation of the Van Ravenwaaij family is now also fully active within the company and a few members of the family can be found in every branch. Christiaan believes this is a huge advantage. "If we make a loss, we all suffer."
43 shops
De Goudreinet means that Van Ravenswaaij has 43 shops at the moment and the total amount of staff has passed the 400 mark. Flowers are also sold in the Goudreinet shops and this is their only venture outside the fruit and vegetable trade. "The number of shops is reasonably stable. We've never had more than 50," says Christiaan. "The shops are all within a 100 kilometre radius around Veenendaal and we've built up a good name for ourselves over the years."
Ravex International specialises in the export to the Russian market. "Until the end of the 90's we also exported to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but we stopped doing this. We serve our regular customers and are not actively looking for new ones. The risks of this are too large. We mainly export mixed loads to Russia. We are conscious of the risks that come with the Russian market, but thanks to our years of experience, we know our way around it."
The wholesale customers come from all over the country. "We've built up a good position locally, but with the exception of Limburg and Groningen we have customers almost everywhere. A lot of people come to pick up their stuff here. We have few wholesalers in our immediate vicinity", says Christiaan. "The market traders are an important target group for us. However, there are few young people entering this trade, with the exception of those who take over from their parents."
Few retail customers
"As far a purchasing is concerned we have a good relationship with growers, and are fairly active at the Belgian auctions, but of course we're always looking for good suppliers. Remarkably, Van Ravenswaaij supplies very few Dutch supermarkets. "We supply a number of independent supermarket entrepreneurs, but we don't really envision our company supplying supermarkets. This could provide a large increase in turnover, but if a supermarket purchasers moves from A to B, there's an immediate problem and we say no thank you to that. With our sales mix of shop chains, export customers and the local market we can look towards the future with confidence. Our recently completed cooling installation means we have modern and sustainable cooling and ripening facilities and we are technically ready for the future!"
For more information:
S.C. van Ravenswaaij
De Doelen 2
3905 TA Veenendaal
TeL: 0031 318 546470
[email protected]
www.ravenswaaij.nl
