Last year, Noud Spetgens went on his own with Bio Europe, separating from partner H&S Trading. The company is now part of the Fresh Food Group, and owns its own nursery (8.5 tonnes a week) for chestnut mushrooms and white mushrooms in Liessel, including its own production line. "We have signed contracts for the long term with German retailers. We look confidently at our future."
This confidence in the future is expressed by the group also entering the soft fruit market. "We will supply berries, raspberries and strawberries, both organic and regular," says Noud. "We have good contacts with growers in Portugal, so we have both Dutch soft fruit and import produce at our disposal."
The mushroom range marketed by Bio Europe is completely organic. "Growing organic mushrooms is a bit more expensive, because it is hard to get the raw materials. Thankfully, this is compensated by a surcharge. There is also an even distribution between Dutch growers and traders in organic mushrooms. We are not in each other's way. It is import to arrange your sales beforehand."
Noud can't complain about the current mushroom market. "Sales are going exceptionally well. There's a very good demand for this time of year, and I think that is mainly due to the cold weather. We also get 1 to 2 mushroom shipments a week from Portugal, and we trade between 35 and 38 tonnes in total of organic mushrooms per week. Germany is our most important market, but we also get orders from France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. That is why we had to buy a lot more in the past few weeks to be able to meet our customers' demand."
For more information:
Noud Spetgens
Bio Europe
Mgr. Berkvensstraat 47
5757 BH Liessel
Tel: +31 (0)493-344255
Fax: +31 (0)493-344256
info@freshfoodgroup.nl
