Towards the end of the year, operations at Fruit At Work are running smoothly. The supplier of fruit boxes, which also provides them to businesses, has seen a sharp increase in requests from schools over the past year. "We foresee growth of around 15 to 20 per cent from schools this year compared to other years. A growth we are obviously not complaining about," says Youri Aerts of the Zonhoven, Flanders-based company.
"Since September, with the start of the new school year, it has clearly been busier than usual," he continues. "A lot of extra orders have come in. It will be a bit quieter during the Christmas holidays, as schools close and some customers take leave. But immediately after the holidays, everything ramps back up. From the first week of January, we are operating at full capacity again, and it looks like that will continue until the end of the school year at the end of June. Schools have become a very important sales channel for us. We have been investing intensively in this segment for the past five years, and partly driving this growth is the 'Eye for Tasty' project, an initiative supported by the Flemish government and the European Union, which promotes healthy eating habits among children by providing nursery and primary schools, as well as special primary and special secondary schools, with free fruit and vegetables for 20 weeks."
Youri expects demand to continue rising through 2026. "Compared to last year, we have already grown 25 to 30 per cent, partly because of this program. We currently supply fruit to about 75,000 to 80,000 students a week. Demand keeps increasing, and next year we expect to reach around 100,000 students a week. Ambitious perhaps, but it seems entirely realistic to us, given the growing interest from schools and principals committed to healthy eating and sustainability."
Moving with the seasons
"In recent years, we have had to find our way in determining the right offer: which types of fruit work well for children, what quantities are ideal, and which format is most practical," he explains. "I think we have succeeded in this now. We continue to choose quality products with good sizes. For apples, for example, this means calibre 70 to 75, so schools never feel they are receiving smaller or inferior products. We maintain the same quality standards as with our regular fruit boxes."
The selection of fruit depends on the time of year. "For our school deliveries, we always try to use as much Belgian fruit as possible. Apples and pears, for example, are available almost year-round from Belgian growers, so we avoid imports whenever we can. We also work seasonally where necessary. In summer, for instance, we use nectarines, peaches, plums, and sometimes grapes. In addition, classic products such as bananas and clementines remain fixed in the range. During special periods, we add something extra. For example, we recently supplied carrots for the horse of St Nicholas and clementines during St Nicholas week. Snack vegetables like mini cucumbers and cherry tomatoes are also regularly included. Easy-to-eat fruit remains the preferred choice, as it is practical for both children and schools. Kiwis, for example, we supply only a few times a year because they require more handling."
Bridging with South African Nadorcott
This year, however, they made an adjustment in their clementine strategy for the first time. "Normally, we start the Spanish season with the Satsuma variety. This year, though, the start from Spain was difficult due to bad weather. So for the first time, we used South African Nadorcott to bridge the gap. This worked surprisingly well: firm quality, good flavour, and customers were pleasantly surprised. Although we did not actively communicate the change, we received a lot of positive feedback. Spanish Satsuma often had weak, soft fruit with quick damage this year, so this switch helped us avoid that problem. We will likely repeat this next year."
And so these clementines are now in high demand in the run-up to St Nicholas. Then comes a quieter period during Christmas until the New Year. "The rush returns immediately in the first weeks of the new year. We traditionally see increased demand for gift baskets. We deliver these throughout the Benelux, to individual addresses, and at one fixed price. Many companies send a fruit basket as a healthy New Year's greeting. We can personalise these baskets with cards, your own message, customer gadgets, or additional regional products such as syrup, juice, or a bottle of bubbles. The first two to three weeks of January always show a clear peak."
© Fruit At Work
Speaking at UN summit
Finally, last summer brought another milestone for Fruit At Work. The company, one of the first 4 companies in the world chosen as an SDG Ambassador, the highest attainable level indicating compliance with all 17 UN SDGs, was invited to speak at a UN summit on sustainable business in July. "During the High Level Political Forum in New York, we attended a week of workshops and lectures and gave our own presentation on how we, as a Belgian company, translate the UN goals into concrete actions: sustainable agriculture, fair prices for growers, correct working conditions, and reduction of food waste. It was extraordinary to see how the UN sets the framework at the macro level, while companies like us apply it at the micro level. That interaction between international policymakers and entrepreneurs was very inspiring," says a proud Youri.
For more information:
Youri Aerts
Fruit At Work
Senator A. Jeurissenlaan 1154
3520 Zonhoven, Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0) 11 825 844
[email protected]
www.fruitatwork.eu
