Wholesaler Kees Rijswijk has been active in the fresh produce sector for 51 years, with a focus on pears the last 15 years. Kees worries about the current market situation, "Last year a perfect end to the season was reached after being in an even more difficult position and having worse conditions. Now it seems as if everyone thinks we are in that situation again, but that remains to be seen. Right now it is very difficult to buy unsorted products. In my view not enough product is being sold."
Kees Rijswijk, and his daughter Gerda, from Fruithandel Rijswijk & Van der Gulik
The 45 mm pears are selling for 22 cents right now. The 50 mm pears are around 40 cents. The 55 mm pears are going for 45 cents, the 60 mm pears are going for 48 cents, the 65 mm are going for 55-58 cents and the 70 mm pears have a good price level, selling for 60-64 cents, "Three weeks ago the large sizes were selling for over 50 cents. Then there was a need for smaller pears, which put the market more in balance," says Kees.
Kees expects the price to fall in the coming weeks, "The drop will not be 10 cents, but I do expect a drop of a few cents, and when that happens the mood will be completely different. I sincerely hope that the market picks up. The prices are not that bad right now, the cooling costs are low and we've lost relatively few pears. If we push on we will get a huge inventory of pears that we will have to sell in a short amount of time."
"The domestic supermarkets are doing well with promotions, and Italy is doing well with the large Comice pear, but across the board too little is being sold. Sales really need to pick up at Lukassen as well; we only have another two or three months for that to happen. Fortunately, we have enough apples and pears for a good base for the industrial sector. You can forget forced export sales. If you have to sell you can only earn so much money, but if you wait your turn you can actually earn a good deal of money."
"The domestic supermarkets are doing well with promotions, and Italy is doing well with the large Comice pear, but across the board too little is being sold. Sales really need to pick up at Lukassen as well; we only have another two or three months for that to happen. Fortunately, we have enough apples and pears for a good base for the industrial sector. You can forget forced export sales. If you have to sell you can only earn so much money, but if you wait your turn you can actually earn a good deal of money."
For more information:
Groothandel C. Rijswijk
Nieuwe Haven 69
1135 VM Edam
Mob: 06-53173149
groothandelrijswijk@kpnmail.nl