Article updated 3:24 PM
Prominent, one of the Netherlands' largest producers of greenhouse vine tomatoes, has announced it is investigating the possibility of selling and merchandising its products direct to customers instead of via Dutch marketing organisation The Greenery, of which it is currently a member.
According to the company, sales operations at Prominent are due to be overseen from 1 January 2010 by Dick Voskamp, formerly of Dutch grower organisation FrEsteem, who is set to join the company at the beginning of October. However, both companies have insisted that Prominent will continue to be a member of The Greenery.
In a statement, Prominent managing director Arne van Aalst said the idea to no longer sell through The Greenery was based on wanting to operate closer to the market and also to achieve what he described as 'concentration of supply'. He added: 'We want to continue to make use of The Greenery's sourcing department and the other services they provide, but to handle the sales ourselves. It could be that the sales department of The Greenery becomes a customer of ours.'
A spokesperson for The Greenery told Fruitnet.com: 'We are investigating how this might be possible, but at present we do not want to comment on this. We have certain stipulations in our rules which govern how our members' products are sold, so the board of directors of The Greenery will have to meet and decide on an appropriate course of action. This won't happen until the end of August. In the meantime, we will continue to play our part as a full service provider to international retailers.'
The spokesperson continued: 'We saw this coming. Growers want a more personalised approach and that's something we've been introducing over the last few years, changing our product management and charging structures in order to offer growers a more individual approach.'
However, Prominent appears determined to remove its tomatoes from The Greenery's sales network in favour of approaching clients itself.
'Since the founding of the organisation in 1995, Prominent has delivered its products to customers in various countries,' commented Mr Van Aalst. 'In the future, Prominent will continue to serve its customers through these outlets, but by handling the trade itself we aim to be closer to the market and to serve it even better.'
