The season for top fruits from overseas has officially started at Global Fruit Point GmbH. After the German import company had already welcomed the first arrivals with Argentine pears from the Patagonia region last week, a second shipment arrived in the port of Rotterdam on Tuesday afternoon. Freshplaza was on-site during the quality control of the Demeter pears, which will be placed on the market for the first time this year. 
Fresh Demeter pears from Argentine cultivation. The volumes will be successively increased over the next few years, says the management of Global Fruit Point GmbH.
Because of the strikes in the Rotterdam port terminals on Monday, there was a delivery delay of one day. The second arrival was greeted a day later at noon. The start of the Argentine top fruit campaign is almost identical to that of the year before, says Danny de Leeuw, quality manager of Dutch subsidiary Global Fruit Services BV. "As usual, we have started with the William and Red Bartlett varieties. The of course there are also Beurré Giffards as some of the early pears, followed by Abate Fetel and other varieties. Afterwards we will end the season with the late pear Packham's Triumph, going until June-July. The Argentine apples, however, will hit the market a little later, around the beginning of April. Their season, however, will probably go on a few months longer than that of the other pears." 
Danny de Leeuw (r) is quality manager of the Dutch subsidiary Global Fruit Services BV
Rapid rise of Demeter goods
The importing company has seen a rapid increase in demand for organic top fruit in recent years. Noticeably, the vast majority of the offering consists of organic products, and now Demeter pears as well. "The quality of the first Demeter pears is outstanding. But volumes and availability are hard to gauge at this early stage of the season," De Leeuw said, while doing quality control, which takes place immediately after the containers arrive. 
The strict requirements of the food retail trade include, among other things, a pear diameter of between 70-75 mm (suitable for all common LEH packaging) and a specific grade of firmness of the fruit. Transparency or traceability, as well as regular laboratory spot checks have also become increasingly important, said De Leeuw. In order to independently assess the goods directly after arrival, they are not only controlled by the own quality team, but also by external company HDG BV. This company has also seen the rapid rise of the Demeter commodity, said a spokesman when asked about this.
The quality controls are carried out directly after arrival
Sven Heinsohn, co-director of Global Fruit Point: "Argentina is one of the EU's most important suppliers of organic top fruit. We are proud of the performance of our partners in Argentina and look forward to further developing the Demeter offerings together."
The teams of Global Fruit Point GmbH and independent quality agency HDG
For more information:
Global Fruit Point GmbH
Bahnhofstraße 45, D-21614 Buxtehude 
Telephone: +49-4161-74888-0
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.frupo.de
