Crisp, fresh fruit is indispensable in today's workplace. Almost every major city in Germany currently has at least one supplier of fruit and vegetable baskets, delivered directly to the office. Frugee also benefits from the rapidly growing demand for office fruit. Five years after its founding and just in time for Christmas business, the Munich-based company has opened its third location in Frankfurt. Further expansion is already planned, says managing director Julius Wenzel.
There is currently peak deployment at the Munich main location, as many companies want to give away fruit baskets as Christmas presents. The common fruits -apples, grapes and bananas- are always in there; seasonal pome fruit, stone and citrus fruits are offered depending on availability and quality. "We try to put together a colorful mix, as we want to avoid our baskets looking the same every week. At the moment, citrus fruits of all kinds are very much in demand: Next week we will start with our blood oranges of the Struwwelpeter house brand. For decoration, we often add a handful of physalis or even strawberries and raspberries."
Organic fruit and snack vegetables
In the space of five years, the company has become one of the most successful suppliers of fruit and vegetable baskets in the Munich area. In the meantime, locations have also been opened up in Berlin and Frankfurt. No matter where the baskets are delivered, the goods are purchased directly from regional wholesale partners. At the headquarters in Munich, the Hausladen company delivers daily fresh goods, at the other locations deliveries are done by selected partners who have maintained a close relationship with the Buchner family for years.
Meanwhile, there are some interesting differences between the individual delivery areas, according to Wenzel. "Customers in the Berlin area are very focused on organic goods. So far, the organic range is limited to about 4-5 articles per week. We are also noticing that snack vegetables are more in demand in the Berlin area than in Munich." Nuts have recently also been offered at all locations, Wenzel explains. "For us, the key question was 'How can you feed yourself in a healthier way at your workplace?' and so the idea came up to tackle nuts. We offer everything possible, unsalted and unroasted."
Further expansion
Because of the steadily growing number of (large) providers in the field of office fruit, almost every major city in Germany is currently covered. Therefore, it is worth considering filling the gap of the smaller cities. But the problem is that usually there are no suppliers or wholesalers in their immediate vicinity. "We wanted to expand to Augsburg, but did not come to a successful cooperation with local partners. For us it is also particularly important that our goods are of top quality at every location. For 2019 already two new openings are planned, in Stuttgart and one other city," stated Wenzel.
