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Rapid growth for (organic) ginger

During the winter months, the demand for ginger rises in Europe. This product has, after all, become a standard item and can be be counted as a ‘not-so-exotic exotic’, just like sweet potatoes. The Chinese sweet potato is, however, less well known. Hans van der Meulen of the Dutch Produce Wholesaler, Rida Trade, talks about the market for, in particular Asian, exotics such as ginger, chestnuts, Nashi pears and garlic. Ginger, however, remains Rida Trade’s speciality.
 
Rida Trade sells about 650 shipping containers worth of ginger annually. This number has risen sharply in recent years. “Ginger is now a basic product; everyone has it in their assortment. Ginger is also a special product, where each customer has his/her requirements and expectations. For us the challenge is to supply good-quality ginger to every customer.” A market that “might be growing faster” than that of conventional ginger, is the market for organic ginger. “It is noticeable that this is selling more. We have organic ginger available year-round.” Besides Chinese ginger, Peruvian ginger and turmeric is imported from Peru. “This is really a service product with which we want to fulfil our customers wishes.”



Although they have product available throughout the year, the peak demand is in the winter months. “In the Netherlands, and Europe, it is a real winter product”, says Hans. “Then, people often get food from Chinese restaurants and there is no competition from Dutch products. Together, Gerry and Hans are responsible for sales. There are seven other people who work at this warehouse. “We are a small, flexible team who give our all for our customers”, says Hans. “A lot goes on here on a daily basis, so we are glad that this branch is, in our opinion, a real people-business.”

New Chinese crop in January
According to Hans, the higher Chinese prices have to do with more governmental red-tape. The provinces check up on each other, resulting in a large amount of paperwork. “This cuts in on the entire province’s working time. The inspection round was completed in October, just as the new crop was being harvested. This new crop of Chinese ginger will only arrive in the Netherlands by the third week of January. The ginger first has to “recuperate” before it may be exported. The company, based in Poeldijk has its own ginger 60 hectare plantation in China. “It is a good idea to work with your products”, explains Hans. “In this way we keep up-to-date with developments.”

Rida Trade mainly supplies the ginger per pallet to wholesalers. These middlemen then sell the ginger to countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, Scandinavia and France. Rida Trade does not handle exports directly. They focus on the import of ginger and other exotics from Asia, in particular. The company, therefore, also has sweet potatoes in its assortment. “We do purple, white and orange sweet potatoes from China says Hans. Although China is the biggest producer of sweet potatoes, the supply is still limited. “Only newly harvested sweet potatoes are good enough to export. You get a good quality potato early in the season.” This season runs from October to April.

Nashi pears, chestnuts and garlic
“We also do Chinese Nashi pears,” continues Hans. “There is sufficient volumes on the market at the moment, but the handling costs in China are high. I, therefore, expect prices to climb”, says Hans. “Chinese supermarkets and wholesalers have a lot of these pears available.” The fact that Dutch supermarkets have not yet included the Nashi pear in its range is a shame, according to Hans. Everyone who tastes these pears, is impressed. “I do, however, see growth opportunities for this product.”

Rida Trade also imports Chinese mushrooms in autumn. From September to March, these are the shimeji and eryngii varieties. Dutch growers and wholesalers are taking an increased interest in the eryngii, but according to Hans, there is more shimeji available. Another typical autumn product is chestnuts. These are an annual addition to their range. “This year we received five shipping containers full of chestnuts, but we want to increase this number next year”, says Hans. “Last year, this market was flooded, so we did not want to take too much of a risk this year.”

Garlic is the last product they import from China. Every season, about 40 containers are shipped to Rida Trade. “Prices are dismal in China,” says Hans. These prices were under pressure in mid-November. “They had too much product available, so the Chinese want to simply get rid of it”, explains Hans. “There is simply too much. Everyone knows that, so there is no more speculation.”

More information:
Rida Trade
Hans van der Meulen
[email protected]
www.ridatrade.nl