Andrzej Mierzejewski, Cool Fruit:
Polish grower serves growing demand for spicy peppers
Click here to view a recent photo report of the Cool Fruit facilities.
Andrzej Mierzejewski from Cool Fruit, said that just 3 or 4 years ago, his company only supplied one variety of spicy peppers, one of the few in Poland to do so, and this year demand has grown to the point where they now offer around 5 or 6 varieties.
"We are still sending out small volumes at the moment, but it has clearly become an up and coming product. I was really surprised this season when one of my Scandinavian customers asked me about the Scoville scale of the different peppers we offer. It was the first time I had ever heard of the scale and immediately went to look it up for them." shared Andrzej.
This demand fits nicely with a new project that CoolFruit has started with wholesaler Cash and Carry, who have been requesting smaller volumes of products that are of high quality and a bit less of your 'run of the mill' vegetables.
"So far they have requested things like cherry tomatoes and spicy peppers such as green, red and chocolate habaneros. There is demand, especially from restaurants and food service and the first shipments of the peppers, in particular, recently started in week 38." said Andrzej.
Of course, spicy peppers are far from the only thing the fruit and vegetable supplier offer. Apples remain their biggest product in terms of volume, followed by bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and a wide range of other types of fruit and veg to meet all demand.
Bell peppers benefit from colder weather
At a recent visit, Andrzeij shared that the recent colder weather has been good for bell peppers because it means that they have the time to develop good colour and a good shape, because it slows down the growing process.
Advances in new varieties and better technology has also been really beneficial to pepper growers. Most growers in the growing region around Potworów have been switching over from the old style of high tunnels with wooden frames to the even higher new style of poly tunnels with metal frames. Andrzej said that along with improved production, the switch to the newer tunnels is also better for the workers during harvest.
"A few years back, the pepper season would run from the middle of June through the middle of October, but new developments have meant that we now finish around the middle of November. The export market still runs until the middle of October, around the time that the Spanish season starts, and the crops grown for the rest of the season are sold to the domestic market. Our green peppers are the only exception, and the season for them runs through to the end of October." said Andrzej.
Strategic locations
Coolfruit has 3 locations, an office in Ożarów Mazowiecki, not far from Bronisze market, a location in the market itself and a warehouse near their growing area in Potworów.
"Having our location at the market in Bronisze is very strategic and it enables us to be able supply our customers with almost any request at all times. We make estimates based on the same time in the previous year so we can hold extra stock in our location and we are able to send out any last minute requests within 24 hours." concludes Andrzeij.
Click here to view a recent photo report of the Cool Fruit facilities.
For more information:
Andrzej Mierzejewski
Cool Fruit
Tel: +48 795522476
Email: andrzej@coolfruit.pl
www.coolfruit.pl