The Indian grape season was just about to begin when we spoke to Transfer Fresh's Nausheen Mirza. She, and Tanneke Sophia Von Burg, founded the company in May 2020. "Perhaps not a logical choice to start a business during a global pandemic, but it felt right to us," begins Nausheen
"We believe in our growers' products and would like to help them enter new markets. Then they can get fair prices for their hard work." Transfer Fresh specializes in grapes, pomegranates, and onions. The company also trades mangoes from India and dates from Saudi Arabia.
Family business
Nausheen, the company's operations manager, is no stranger to the fruit and vegetable sector. She comes from a family of growers. "We have 300 hectares of land and a packing station in the Nashik area. We trade my family's produce and that of other growers who have joined Transfer Fresh. Collectively, they grow about 125,000 hectares of grapes. Half of these come from the Nashik region, where many growers cultivate grapes for the European market."
Transfer Fresh's growers have been producing grapes for more than 20 years, but none have experience exporting to Europe. "Our growers have a tremendous amount of knowledge about things like cultivation, technology, transport, packaging, and MRLs. They're also well informed of the latest developments," says Nausheen. "For example, the products are increasingly being packaged sustainably. They can do all kinds of packaging like punnets, cartons, pouches, and paper pouches anyway."
"We also have all the necessary certificates to be able to export to Europe. We take care of their sales so that they can focus even more on the product and the further development of the sector. Transfer Fresh wants to reach a steady, sustainable position in the European market. Unfortunately, growers are all too often neglected and exploited because they don't know any better. That motivates us to create equal opportunities, with fair trade and prices," Nausheen explains.
"Being part of a family business, having plenty of inhouse know-how, and client needs being in balance with what we can do, strengthens our position. We don't use brokers, which is a major advantage. Where possible, our products are delivered directly to the customer from the country of origin. We adjust our prices accordingly," Hans von Burg adds. He is Tanneke's uncle and mainly does the company's marketing and customer management.
Shift to seedless varieties
In India, the grape season runs from late December to early April. Transfer Fresh's grapes have been available since early January, with Thompson Seedless as the main variety. This season, for the first time, they also have small volumes of Crimson and Red Globe. "In the coming years, we'll be focusing particularly on the seedless varieties."
"Indian grapes usually have higher Brix levels due to the favorable climate. Also, they have a relatively longer shelf life and are priced attractively. Plus, Indian grapes often comply better with MRLs than, say, those from South America. This will be our second season from the Netherlands, and we've already been able to create more sales space. That bodes well for the future," says Hans.
The Indian onions and pomegranates come from the Nashik region too. Beautifully pink, full-flavored Indian onions are available year-round. People often use these in curries and sauces. The well-priced Indian pomegranates are sweeter and generally larger than those from Europe and Turkey. These, too, are available throughout the year.
From March to the end of June, the trading company also has mangoes from India available. Alphonso mangoes are said to be among the tastiest in the world. Dates from the Middle East are also part of Transfer Fresh's permanent assortment. To guarantee year-round delivery, the products from India are supplemented with grapes, onions, and pomegranates from Egypt and onions from the Netherlands.
Expansion
Most of Transfer Fresh's products find their way, under private label, to the retail segment. The Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, and the United Kingdom are important European destinations. The family business also exports directly to Saudi Arabia from India. "We focus primarily on quality," continues Nausheen.
"Currently, we regularly receive requests from growers who want to join us. There's room for expansion, but only if they meet our quality standards. In any case, the future looks bright. We expect to be able to help many more growers, which is our ultimate goal," she says.
This fledgling trading company, of course, faces challenges. Transfer Fresh is, for instance, also being affected by high sea freight costs. Hans keeps a close eye on prices, which seem to be stabilizing. "That would mean next season's retail prices won't increase significantly, boosting confidence. Our growers, too, have to deal with rising production costs, such as packaging material, which is becoming increasingly expensive. Doing everything ourselves makes a difference."
Transfer Fresh sees opportunities, especially in technology; the family business has a background in ICT. "Consumers have started to eat more consciously and want to know where products come from and how they're produced. We prioritize fairness and transparency and are focusing on doing more with this. We're also still looking for logistics business partners to expand and improve our trade flows," Hans concludes.
