"Germany: "The price battle on the market is extreme"

“The competition becomes increasingly tougher, no one can simply sit back and relax,” a wholesale trader in fruit and vegetables from Greece explains to us. “The people want high quality for a low price. Serving this demand poses a difficult task to a wholesale trader.” The main product of the wholesale trader is sweet and seedless table grapes from Greek cultivation. Among his customers are wholesale markets, catering companies and the food retail trade.

A lively ambience on the wholesale market: the wholesale traders work at full blast with heavy equipment to satisfy the wishes of their customers.

“The price battle on the market is extreme,” the wholesale trader further explains. “Surviving on the market is becoming ever more difficult. Especially wanting to pay your producers the price that they deserve for their products.” Throughout the years, the expert describes, the number of wholesale traders and importers has shrunk throughout Germany.”The market is very strained for many products. Because of this, the profit margin is often not large,” he continues. A difficult situation, especially for smaller wholesale traders.

“You needs to satisfy the needs of your customers,” says the expert “A seven-day workweek is nothing out of the ordinary for wholesale traders. You needs to be reachable 24/7.” To reduce his costs, the wholesale trader works without interim storage. “That saves time and money. Through professional logistics and direct sale, we attempt to save some money,” the importer explains. Beside the Greek grapes, the trader also imports from Spain, Italy and overseas. “It goes on and on. As a small to medium sized importer, you needs to cleverly position yourself on the market, and specialize,” says the expert. “You cannot slack off and relax.”