Jan Timmermans
Below chart in Dutch:
The latest top fruit prognosis figures: 350,000 tonnes of apples (+12%) and 341,000 tonnes of pears (+4%)
Exceptional
The president quickly reviewed the exceptional situation that both imported apples and Dutch apples could be sold for nothing. "Reasonable apples for free were still too expensive. I had never seen anything like it and hope never to again. The Dutch supermarkets' offers caused a considerable cull, but in the end we can only be thankful."
"We have too large a harvest to produce just for Holland. That's not a bad thing, but we also have to deal with a larger plantation in Eastern Europe, where the growers are producing a better quality of apples for much lower ground prices. This means that we are now in a situation where we need disasters or frost damage in these countries. Luckily we still have a top quality of club varieties, but even with this it's a challenge to make a bit extra."
Residue free
Jan called out to the present traders to keep hammering quality. "They have been too easy-going here and there, which made the consumer look towards imported fruit. The 'Elstar, Altijd Raak' (Elstar, always right) campaign proves that it's not too late." He named offering residue free fruit as a possibility for the Dutch top fruit sector to define itself. "Thoughts on this will vary, but our company is doing tests on pears, and although it's difficult, it isn't impossible. Internationally and Europe wide we could have a leading role in this."
Changing thinking for fruit traders during a clinic: Wim van der Schoot (De Groot International), Rolf Vrolijk (Total Produce), Anton Rutten (Jan Oskam), Fabien Dumont (Fruitmasters) and Alex van Ieperen (Direct Fruit Services).
It turned out to be a good little push for the changing thinking clinic, where the traders learned the difference between the 'yeah, but' thinking and the 'yeah, and' thinking.