"More Chinese pomelo's have already arrived than the whole of last season"

Even before the start of the Chinese pomelo import season, importers from De Groot International were convinced that there were larger volumes available for export to Europe than last year. Now that the season is under way it appears that the prediction is true. With just a few import weeks to go, the amount of pomelos are already equal to last year's entire season. During the annual visit to China, the suppliers visited Pinghe, which is where today's pomelo's come from. Compared to the former Guangdong pomelo it is juicier and does not have seeds.

"Due to good contact with suppliers in China we have a good and reliable supply. We receive our pre-programmed containers weekly and we know we can serve our customers with these numbers. The quality of the pomelo's is, just like last year, very good," explains Wim van der Schoot who is engaged in the import of Chinese pomelo's on behalf of De Groot International.

This season China has worked well on the MRL situation (maximum residue limits) with the recently formed Pomelo Association. This association was co-founded by former employees of the state and pomelo warehouses. This appears to have paid off, as so far there have been no MRL problems reported in the 25% of incoming containers by the VWA and a substantial portion commissioned by De Groot International themselves. "Besides the influence of the Pomelo Association we also work with our suppliers to prevent MRL problems. There is constant communication in place between our quality manager and our suppliers in China to protect and maintain the MRL protocols specified by us," says Wim.

Like every year De Groot International offers pomelo's under its own brand Don Mario. At the moment these are available in 11 and 12kg packed boxes. A new item in the assortment of De Groot International is the 'premium pomelo'. These pomelo's are MRL guaranteed and so meet the requirements of German supermarkets. To ensure these requirements, extra tests are conducted in China and on entry to The Netherlands. These are documented and delivered with the pomelo's.

For more information:
Wim van der Schoot
De Groot International
Tel: +31 (0)73-599 88 41
Fax: +31 (0)73-599 88 76
E-mail wimvanderschoot@degroot-int.nl
www.degrootfreshgroup.nl