With the strawberry season in Morocco and Spain winding down and Poland in full swing on a range of fruits, Sales & Marketing Manager Marco van de Sant takes time out to appraise you on how SVZ sees the market. “Back in February we started strawberry in Morocco. The cupboard was bare and customers needed our help and we reacted by starting earlier to meet the heavy demands. We hope to finish with a record pack and satisfied customers. There is also an empty market for Polish strawberry and for both Polish and Serbian raspberry, so once again we hope to rise to the challenge of meeting our customer demand. In general customers were conservative in their purchases last year and hence they are looking for prompt shipments to cover short positions.
The above scenario begs the question - what is more important: price or availability? Of course price is important but it is not the main driver for our larger customers who must keep factories running and cannot simply buy spot parcels from unapproved sources. Not only should product be available but it has to be available in the right quality and at the right time and this is where SVZ leads the way. A lengthy discussion on the last cent might seem important but stretching this discussion too far into the season reduces the time we have to make the right product for you. The supply chain must be controlled and every part must be allowed to make some profit if it is to function smoothly. The current situation is that profitability lies at the end of the chain with costs being pushed back up the chain. We are constantly demanding more of farmers with agronomical frameworks that are reducing pesticide, fungicide and water usage. This is all admirable but we must not lose sight that these actions can have severe consequences for yields and quality. Without the use of certain protective agents wet weather can cause havoc and crop loss and farmers simply will not take such risks going forward. It is therefore imperative that for long term supply security we pay a fair price to the growers and work closely with them so that they do not simply pull out unprofitable crops leaving both ourselves and our customers without the primary raw material. At SVZ we believe sustainability is a key driver, but this will only be achieved if a fair price is paid throughout the chain so that we can offer the consumer a product that is safe and healthy. Currently this balance does not exist and for a healthy future we need the top of the chain to recognise this. We believe that the ever increasing demands from our customers are challenging but will make us stronger in the long run. We are constantly looking for new ideas and improvements that meet or exceed these demands. We invite you to be part of our journey and work closely with us to secure both our and your future.”
