It’s almost Christmas and fruit and vegetable traders have more to do this week than usual. But it is no longer the Christmas rush it once was. “Around 15 years ago you would really see people buying volumes and request specialties, which are now available all year round. They are no longer just eaten at Christmas,” says Peter De Blaeij of De Blaeij, who have locations in the Netherlands and Belgium. “People now order more from the caterer and have it delivered to their home. There is still a lot of money being spent, just less on fruits and vegetables. You do notice that the prices of certain products go up a bit. For instance, you were paying a few Euro less for lychees a few weeks ago compared to now.”
Bosfa Kaki
The market days in Evergem are Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“We are also expecting a good sales day on Wednesday, before Christmas, and then it will be over.
“Everything is going quite well at the moment. A nice product we received growing volumes of this winter is the kaki. We carried various brands, but at the moment we have the special brand Bosfa. These kakis are really bright orange and the quality is good. We had them at 6.5 Euro last week, and this week it is 8 Euro.” According to Peter the juices are going well too. “We have Schulp in our assortment and as of recently also the new juice with the Red Love apple, there is a good demand for this.”
More Belgian brands
The trader indicates that the competition in Belgium has increased. “We used to define ourselves with certain brands from the Netherlands, but nowadays we also have more Belgian brands in our assortment, such as Drie Vrouwen for citrus. For us the main point is supplying first class.” He looks to next year with positivity. “We notice that there are increasingly few small traders, but we will continue to sell.”
