The Dutch herb season had a slight delay due to the cold weather, causing volumes to be below the regular level. "Not all products are readily available, but luckily we can meet our customers' demand, because we get our herbs from just about every continent," says Willem Kea of Greenfresh in Rijnsburg.
Greenhouses Kenya
"Incidentally, the supply of herbs from abroad is also behind schedule. Outdoor cultivation in Kenya has been hindered by floods. It's a good thing we had ourselves covered by mainly buying indoor produce," Willem says. "The situation in Israel abruptly switched from Winter to Summer; which also doesn't improve the product."
Greenhouses Kenya
"Incidentally, the supply of herbs from abroad is also behind schedule. Outdoor cultivation in Kenya has been hindered by floods. It's a good thing we had ourselves covered by mainly buying indoor produce," Willem says. "The situation in Israel abruptly switched from Winter to Summer; which also doesn't improve the product."
Left: anassalie and apple mint. Right: Bronze fennel
On the whole, demand for packaged and convenience products has increased significantly in the last few years. "Customers are finding out more and more that packaged products have an increased shelf life; we can keep it in stock for our customers, so they don't run any risks. In this way, we still manage to realise our annual growth. We are not only growing domestically, but also in surrounding countries, with buyers in Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Czech Republic, France, Belgium and Luxembourg."
From top left, clockwise: lavender with flower, red sorrel, coriander and apple mint
Willem mainly sees an increase in demand at product level for coriander, despite current shortages, but also for special herbs such as bronze fennel, apple mint and chocolate mint. "More and more people are learning to work with these products due to all the publicity in magazines. Fresh tea is also a good example of that. The catering industry is going through a rough time at the moment, and we are trying to inspire and support buyers and chefs as much as we can by means of mailings with product and usage information. We also use Facebook and twitter. There are so many articles that most people don't know about!"
From top left, clockwise: petit pois, coriander, chocolate mint, apple mint
Greenfresh are looking positively at the weeks ahead. "We work with set prices, but the prices for the day trade are at a reasonable level. I expect prices to remain stable, even though supply will increase."
For more information:
Greenfresh
Vinkenweg 50 B
2231 NT Rijnsburg
Tel: +31 7140 10806
Fax: +31 7140 10012
[email protected]
www.greenfresh.nl
