On 1 September Frits Verhoeckx started Frits Fruit. In addition to it being his first name, FRITS stands for: Fresh Retail International Trade Source. “It was a long-cherished dream to start my own business. As the son of a fruit grower, I was brought up on the fruit trade, and after educational years at the commercial departments of first Frupaks and then Gebr. van Blijderveen, it was now time for the next step.”
The young entrepreneur has his office at his parental fruit growing company. “Besides the sales of our own fruit, I also work with various growers from my own network. I’m focused purely on the Dutch top fruit range, and I’m facing plenty of challenges to find the right price and sales for that. My goal is to sell the Dutch product in a positive way on the European market, on which we as the Dutch sector have a good, high-quality, product.”
“Italian Gala apples, for example, are purely picked and harvested based on quality. That results in a high-quality product with a higher average price. We have the same opportunities with Elstar and Conference in the Netherlands. Quality always sells. If we are all dedicated to a good quality product, we won’t be bothered by a poorer quality bringing down prices either,” Frits continues.
“I naturally hope to make a profit this way, but it’s very much necessary as well that growers earn some money to invest in the future. If the only one making a profit is trade, it’s not much of a sector. There’s no trade without growers, after all,” Frits says. “Besides, the market conditions have been very different this year compared to last year. There are considerably fewer apples in particular. Everyone’s feeling quite positive, and that’s good, but no one knows how prices will develop throughout the year.”
For more information:
Frits Verhoeckx
Frits Fruit
Burgemeester van Randwijckstraat 88a
5328 AV Rossum, the Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)418 519 338
[email protected]
