"We already supplied to some accounts in Australia like Freshmax and Flavorite Marketing, and we think there is a good possibility of attracting more clients here, we are also in discussion with one of the big supermarket chains here in Australia who are intending to build a new banana ripening facility," explains Leon Hooghart.
"We see that the ripening technology used here is quite old fashioned and we think we can bring the new technology from Europe here, and offer companies energy saving solutions as well as better quality fruit from the ripening rooms."
Leon explains that many companies still use old systems which use a lot of energy, as in the past energy consumption was not a big concern in Australia but is becoming one now. There are also big temperature differences in the current ripening rooms, as much as 3°C difference between cartons is accepted here, whereas in Europe the accepted norm is 0.1°C. Even temperatures give better quality and a more uniform fruit coming out of the ripening rooms which makes it easier to sell, and there is no need to sort the green bananas from the yellow ones.
BG Door is active worldwide, but say there are many more opportunities available. "China will be growing in the coming years, we already do business there and will be present at Asia Fruit Market Insight conference in Shanghai next week, we are also in discussion with major players in China and hope to take things further with them."
"China is a great market, but you must go slowly, we have been meeting these people for years now and at a certain stage they will leave the existing systems behind and look for new ones, you must be patient which I admit is difficult for us Europeans!" said Leon.
South America, also has great potential according to the Dutchmen, who have a project running in Brazil.
"India too is full of opportunities, but again like China it takes time, you must go slowly and build relationships there, but we already do business in India on a regular basis. Even now bananas are ripened in caves in some places so it is huge jump to go from that, to our modern ripening room technology," explains Jan.
But all in all people are willing to change from old methods, they can see the financial benefits of adapting this new technology, especially if they are involved with the retailers who want constant reliable quality fruit.
