“We do a lot of trading on the Polish coast in summer”

Freddi Hofstede has been working in the fresh produce sector for years already, including in former trade company Engels in Enschede, the Netherlands. Since 1996 he lives in Szczecin, Poland, near the German border, but he still has Dutch contacts. “My company, FK Fruit, transports the entire fresh produce gamut. I get overseas import from the Netherlands, but I personally import from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Greece, France and Italy. Furthermore, I transport a wide range of Polish fruits and vegetables. What I lack, I supplement with cargo from the Netherlands.”

Trading in Poland pleases Hofstede. “We are lucky enough to be able to earn our bread, and even some butter and sandwich fillings. The zloty exchange rate is currently not very favourable compared to the Euro, but we can calculate that in. We are not desperate for the Euro here. To us, sales to Polish wholesalers and retailers is most important, but we also export a fair amount to the UK. We can only hope that does not decline because of the Brexit. I just ordered our third DAF lorry, but I am afraid that export volumes will decrease a bit. For us, the UK is an ideal market, because we can load many return shipments in the Netherlands.”

The Polish season is also very important to FK Fruit. “We currently have many Polish vegetables available. The strawberry season is nearly over here, and the cherry season is also nearly finished because of the bad weather. Just as in the UK, the Polish consumer has a clear preference for Polish products. Therefore, many greenhouses have been built here over the years. As soon as the season of the short, Polish cucumbers arrives, they are sold in large numbers in shops immediately and we stop importing them.”

Hofstede makes good use of his experience in the Dutch fresh produce trade. “Supermarkets here are going to be calling the shots, and I saw that switch in the Netherlands as well. I therefore know what is going to happen. Furthermore, I am still in daily contact with Dutch trade companies. Often with my old contacts such as HillFresh, Haluco, Roveg and Aartsenfruit Breda. They are the bigger players, and that cooperation is going well.”

“I still visit the Netherlands regularly as well. It is, after all, not an unbridgeable distance. If I try even a little bit, I can be in Enschede in five-and-a-half hours. Next month I will go to an André Rieu concert in Maastricht. But for now, we are in for a hell of a time in Poland. A busy period is starting, in which we do a lot of trade to the Polish coast. A lorry leaves every day with both Polish fruits and vegetables and imported trade.”