Starting with the marketing of
twelve hectares of eggplants
for "Zwinkels Aubergine", that is what Growers Finest is going to do. Since the 1st of January this year, the sales platform has been conceived, set up and launched by Pascal Hogervorst and the Zwinkels family.
Photo: Pascal Hogervorst with Angela
and Ron Zwinkels
Production starts in mid-February and Pascal's dream for a number of years now has becomes a reality. “The grower is becoming increasingly important in the chain. We focus on that grower, through an open platform.
Zwinkels Aubergine is the first grower to be connected to that platform. "With a serious share of twelve hectares in the Dutch eggplant market; good for about ten percent market share," says Pascal. "That's pretty serious and nice to start with."
Zwinkels Aubergine has been selling eggplant through other sales agents in recent years and did so under the brand Méditerraneé. This will continue to be the case, now that the grower joins Growers Finest. “As Growers Finest, we are not a brand ourselves. However, in a small corner, the brand name Growers Finest will appear."
The highest return on the market
But what will Growers Finest do for the grower?
“Selling, invoicing, administering and above all, getting the highest possible return from the market for the grower, where we also need good partners.
The grower can now follow everything and knows what the price is and where the product is going. Of course it is also not the case that I have to get an approval from the grower for each and every single sale. You trust each other and the grower indicates whether, for example, he/she wants to go for the highest segment or mainly wants to sell on volume and standardised cultivation. That is how we work, with zero secrets and completely transparent."
From one location at the grower
The goal is certainly not to be an extra link in the chain. “In fact, there is certainly a chance that the chain will sometimes become shorter. In any case, we are man enough to set up a certain volume, I am convinced of that and we are going to do that with the eggplant from one central location in 's-Gravenzande, whereas it used to come from multiple locations."
Growers enough for a complete package
In the meantime, Pascal and his team are eager to start, especially now that there are shortages in the market. “At the moment there is not nearly enough product to meet the demand. The bad weather in Spain is causing problems and currently very high prices, more than two euros the kilogram heading up to three. If you hear that there are traders with their hands up in their hair, it is because they cannot deliver. Then I would like to start, but we need to be patient.”
Patience is definitely the magic word. “We start with one product line, although we are working with a grape grower, among other things.
It does not only have to be greenhouse vegetables, we would also like to put other products on the market in the long term.
The ambition for 2021 is to definitely add one product line. Individual growers who want more control over the sale of their product, but who lack the capacity to do it themselves, there are plenty of them. We are there for those growers who may have had the ambition to be in control for years, but could never find the right way to do so. "
For more information:
Growers Finest
www.growersfinest.nl
info@growersfinest.nl
sales@growersfinest.nl
T: +31 1 742 57 430
M:+31 6 470 120 97 (WhatsApp only)