“Market for frozen berries growing”

More andmore frozen fruit can be found in Dutch supermarkets, but according to VincentBouwhuis of Helsu, there is still a long way to go. Sales of IQF products aredivided into the processing and the consumer market. About the processingmarket, Vincent says: “Unfortunately not much is left of that in theNetherlands.” Only a handful of factories are left where jam, fruit fillings orfruit preserves are made. Most of the producers are found abroad, for instancein Germany. Helsu supplies all frozen products in IQF, making individual dosingpossible, and retaining more aroma and flavour.

Number doubled
The consumer market is a totally different story. Helsu doesn’t supply directlyto retail, but sells the frozen fruit through wholesalers. The share of frozenfruit on the Dutch market still isn’t very big, but it has double compared toten years ago, Vincent says. “Increased health awareness has certainlycontributed to that. The number of blueberries has increased significantly, forinstance, being a fruit variety that’s used a lot in making smoothies.”

Growing market
The Netherlands still lags behind when it comes to frozen fruit and vegetables.“That’s not surprising,” Vincent says, “seeing how the Netherlands is theWalhalla of fresh fruit and vegetables.” So the country is definitely a growingmarket. More and more consumers want to make their own fruit products, likesmoothies, juices and jams. “It has to be healthy or healthier,” Vincent says,noticing a shift to healthier food with less sugar.

Asia
Helsu’s frozen fruit is sold across the world, with Germany being an importantmarket in Europe. A real up and coming market is Asia, and China in particular.Vincent: “The berries are doing particularly well. These are also used inpharmacy, because European blackberries and blueberries contain anthocyanins.Those are antioxidants that are used in the production of certain formulationsin the pharmaceutical industry.” He also notes that China, which had long beena big player on the frozen strawberry market, has now been side-lined due tothe EU import ban as a result of the strong dollar.

Growing berry sales
Vincent sees the biggest opportunities for frozen fruit in the berry segment,with the frozen segment benefiting from the increased sales of fresh berries.Acai berries, sea-buckthorn berries, goji berries and blueberries are seeing aparticular increase. Sea-buckthorn berry juice is very popular in Japan,Vincent says. “Very healthy, but also very tart and bitter.” Not very suited tothe Dutch palate, but “we’ll see this type of product more and more over here,albeit in a sweetened version, most likely.”

Dried
In addition to frozen fruit, Helsu also sells dried fruit. In recent years,demand for these products has risen significantly, especially in berries. Driedfruit is considered a healthy snack, and products like muffins, muesli andfruit bars contain a lot of dried berries. Vincent expects the market for bothdried fruit and frozen fruit to increase steadily in Western Europe in the comingyears.