Twelve Dutch companies with one collective goal: building a distribution centre for potatoes, vegetables and fruit in India. Huib Smit of Allround Vegetable Processing is the brains behind the project, Dutch Distribution Centres (DDC), which is highly likely to be given the task of building a large distribution centre in India.
A design of a distribution centre where there is space for 60,000 tonnes of storage. Both bulk and boxes for products such as potatoes, carrots, onions, apples are suitable for the storage that could eventually end up in India.
An animation of a large distribution centre, such as could be realised in India.
Location in India
Normally Huib Smit of Allround Vegetable Processing from the Dutch Andijk works on the sales of various machines for the fruit and vegetable world. The owner of the company, however, does not just make the sorting, washing and packaging machines on Dutch soil. The company also has a location in India. This is how Huib got to know the fair India Cold Chain Show that took place again recently. Everything is about cooled storage at this fair. "We have been active at this fair for nine years," indicates owner Huib Smits. "A year and a half ago I decided to work together with other Dutch companies, so that we could offer a total package in our projects in India. We started operating under the name Dutch Distribution Centres."
Each others' ambassadors
Each of those within the DDC group had their own expertise in the group and complement one another. "We are true ambassadors to each others," says the founder. One is concerned with storage, the next with weighing machines and another with sorting. All together the group can offer a package with which they are extremely suitable for the construction of a distribution centre in India. "That's what they want there, a package like we offer," he continues. "In India it is much more difficult to realise the construction of a distribution centre compared to the Netherlands. If you need doors in the Netherlands, you just go to a door specialist, but it isn't that easy in India. This is why the investors of the distribution centre want the plans to be carried out as one package, something we can and likely will be allowed to do."
The Dutch participants of the Dutch Distribution Centre.
Positive reactions
During India Cold Chain Show 2017 the DCC showed what they had in store. According to Huib there was positive response to the collaboration between the twelve Dutch companies, even from the competition. "We were the only ones at the fair who had a collaboration like ours," the man behind DDC indicates. "There were also eight Turkish companies present at the fair in Mumbai, but no one realised they were all there. The competition even told us that we had handled it well by operating as a whole. This is always good to hear."
The 'Holland Paviljon' at the India Cold Chain Show 2017.
All in all, Huib looks back at the fair with satisfaction. He even believes that Dutch Distribution Centres is highly likely to get the deal. "Although it wasn't busy at the fair, we were able to present ourselves well," he says. "We can switch quickly and are able to build from big to small. In the short term we can realise a distribution centre that can store 5000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables to a distribution centre that has space for a storage of 60,000 tonnes with various big lines. There aren't a lot of companies that can realise something like this."
Investing in India can be difficult
There is a reason that the investors want to buy the construction as a group. Due to bad organisation various things can go completely wrong in India according to Huib. "In recent years the investment level in the country was terrible," the frontman of DDC continues. "Various things worked against this. For years there was a lot of black money in the fresh produce industry and when the money was exchanged at a national level, a lot of black money was worthless. The potato price was also very bad for a long time in India, the banks gave bad loans and there were tax reforms. It wasn't always known how investments were to be taxed. This caused a lot of reluctance. I expect this to pull up over the coming years and that the investments will increase. This is why the DDC has the advantage now that we work together, so that the whole of it can be built by the Dutch companies, instead of separate companies doing it. This offers more security for the investors."
DDC also develops smaller distribution centres. Pictured is a DC where 5000 tonnes of potatoes, onions, apples of frozen food can be stored.
For more information:
Dutch Distribution Centres
T: +31.228.597777