For some companies, and depending on the products, the shipping of fruit and vegetables by sea has been losing ground to air transport, despite it being more complicated and with costs that not all clients can afford. Pre-prepared convenience food is also trendy; a more expensive option, but with growing demand year after year.
"We started our export career shipping to the Maldives, a difficult market because of the logistics, and we specialized in mixed pallets. Nowadays, we do a fine and complex job ad hoc, combining different expiry dates and temperatures, and that sets us apart from the rest. It's like tailoring a suit for our buyers with the added risk of the cost of air freight. We are pleased to be able to offer all our customers by air the same speed and quality as we do at the Ritz in Madrid," says Mercedes Díaz, manager of Teppimer.
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"Tomatoes and berries are our best sellers, but each market has its own peculiarities. The Middle East and the United Kingdom prefer stone fruit, berries, and green leafy vegetables. In Europe, stone fruit, melon, watermelon, tomato, and vegetables are more dominant," says Yeray Rodríguez, the company's Manager.
"The pre-prepared convenience food sector is experiencing great growth because wage costs are very high and large companies, supermarkets, and collectivities prefer it. In fact, in just three years, we have become too small, so we've had to expand our facilities. The quality of pre-prepared convenience food can't be compared to that of fresh fruit, but tastes are following this trend, especially for products like pineapple, mango, coconut, or mixtures," says Rodríguez.
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As far as volumes are concerned, Rodríguez says that they are managing to send 50 pallets by air every week. "In total, we handle 22 million kilos of fruit and vegetables annually. Our total turnover amounts to around 18 million euros, 20% of which corresponds to pre-prepared convenience food."
"In the last few years, we have recorded sharp growth. Last year alone, we grew by almost 30%. We have set a target of € 50 million in five years, and we are working hard to achieve it."
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This increase will be achieved mainly in "fruit and vegetable shipments by road and air. As far as maritime transport is concerned, we believe that shipping companies no longer offer the stability they used to and are no longer a reliable means of transport. A simple delay of a few days can affect the produce and cause the whole operation to be disrupted. As far as pre-prepared convenience food is concerned, we are still not considering exporting because temperature control is fundamental and the product is highly perishable," says the manager.
51 years ago, Teppimer began its activity in the Horeca channel serving the Ritz Hotel in Madrid. Since then, it has been expanding with collectivities and sporting events. As part of its diversification process, it started working with pre-prepared convenience food and exporting fruit and vegetables by land and air transport.
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For more information:
Mercedes Díaz and Yeray Rodríguez
Teppimer
Tel.: +34 616 42 68 94
[email protected]
[email protected]
https://www.teppimer.es
[email protected]
