RedStar's Red Desire mini plum vine tomatoes are now also available online at Albert Heijn. It is a new step for the tomato cultivation and sales company in the 'difficult Dutch market', after the RedStar vine tomatoes appeared last year on the shelves under the retailer's AH brand.
Photo: Red Desire, 'new' at Albert Heijn online for 2 euros per 200 grams.
Logical next step
By joining forces with Albert Heijn a year ago, RedStar was given the chance to interconnect with a group of Dutch consumers, which the company says was difficult to reach with the higher segment RedStar tomatoes, because of the strong competition from cheaper tomato varieties. At the time, director Henri Lambriex spoke of 'a breakthrough' in Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad.
The new step, going online, is "a logical outcome" according to RedStar. "Our goal was and is to have more people enjoying our tomatoes."
At RedStar's headquarters in De Lier they are happy that there is 'a strong and good cooperation with Albert Heijn and Bakker Barendrecht'. After starting to work with the supermarket chain, they've seen an increase in turnover in both supermarket and wholesale. "Increasingly more people know how to find our tomatoes, with restaurants in particular also appreciating the luxury tomatoes. We are doing our utmost to keep up with the growth by increasing production."
An eye for product and packaging
The packaging, fully recyclable, was especially developed for Red Desire. "Red Desire is our premium snack tomato that is unique because of its deep red color, its special shape, and it's sold on the vine, giving it an extra sweet taste.
"Of course, we also think it is important to reduce the amount of plastic used. It is one of the most important requirements when developing new packaging. With natural tomatoes also comes a lot of love for nature. This applies not only to what is in the packaging, but also to the packaging itself."
Brexit
And then there’s the eventual Brexit, which could result in more difficult sales to the United Kingdom. "The love for tomatoes in England is stronger than Brexit. We have faith in a good future."
For more information:
RedStar
info@redstar.nl
www.redstar.nl