Bio World has been active for eight years now. Over the course of the years the turnover of the organic branch of the Best Fresh Group has grown strongly. "We are in a growing market. Even with only the existing customers we have been realising a hefty growth in recent years," says commercial manager Siem van der Valk. "Product availability remains the largest challenge. We often consciously chose to serve our regular customers first over the past few years, even when there was more to be made in the daily trade."
"Consumers worldwide are looking for natural fruits and vegetables. This is why we believe in the market perspectives of the organic shelf. We want to guarantee retailers and growers the professional approach that belongs with a large product category," says Siem. "Scandinavian countries and Germany have been large buyers of organics for years and those markets continue to develop. The Dutch organic market is becoming bigger and bigger. We have increasing amounts of customers who supply to schools, companies, hotels and restaurants. The United Kingdom decreased strongly a number of years ago, but is now going through an organic comeback.
Security
The price difference between organic and regular product will remain, according to the organic trader. "It has to when you look at the production differences. The differences between conventional and organic are considerable for a product like peppers. The organic package is growing, but a product like strawberries is still very difficult to grow organically. We bank on seasonal relationships, whether those are from own growers or not. That guarantees us a certain volume per week and gives the grower peace and security."
Bio World is the supplier of a total package of organic fruits and vegetables. Greenhouse vegetables are the largest product category. In the Netherlands the area of organic greenhouses isn't growing along with the market and it isn't easy to find 'inverters'. "Inverting can quickly take up two years in the Netherlands. In other countries like Spain, where there is open ground cultivation, it is easier to invest. A lot of Dutch growers don't have the resources to cover those years. As Bio World we like to help think about constructions to help conventional growers come up with a good plan to grow organically with support," says Siem.
Bio Montaña
In Spain the company has the supply well organised. The company Bio Montaña, a sister company of Bio World, started this year under direction of Job van den Berg, which markets the full assortment of a growers union in Motril consisting of 78 hectares of open ground vegetables and 33 hectares of greenhouse vegetables. "We have had a flying start. The growers are signing themselves up. Now the sweet potato season is starting, but we also grow a wide cabbage assortment of Chinese cabbage, red and white cabbage and (red) pointed cabbage."
Bio World also has a network of own growers worldwide, in which Spain and Israel are the main import countries. The company also imports a hefty volume of organic blueberries from the South African producer Dreammaker Fruits annually. "This year we also have organic blueberries from Chile and Argentina and this was also a success," says Siem. "But there are also tough moments in the organic trade. There was a very good market for organic apples from Argentina two years ago. Last year everyone focussed on that market and there was drama and this season the last boxes (18kg) left for a huge price of above 50 Euro."
Siem views the future of Bio World positively. "The great thing is that we don't really have a quiet month. If the peak was in March last year, the summer months were very busy this year. We foresee further growth over the next few years and are therefore urgently seeking commercial colleagues."
