Fresh produce company Univeg is finalising plans to open a new office in Dubai, marking its first official investment in developing a commercial network in the Gulf, Eurofruit can reveal.
The office, which is due to open in January 2014, will provide the group with a permanent sales operation in the heart of the Middle East market and enable it to push ahead with developing new business in the region.
'We want to grow and improve the relationship we have with our customers here in the Middle East,' confirmed Adolfo Storni, Univeg's business development director.
'We have developed a very strong business in the region and also in North Africa, where we are the market leader in Algeria and Libya, for example.'
A new team of local sales staff working at a new office close to both Dubai International Airport and the Port of Jebel Ali will be headed up by Robert Britz, currently commercial market manager at Univeg South Africa, and Franco Casale of Univeg Trade Italy.
The team will work to increase sales of fresh fruit and vegetables from countries in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere.
Univeg's key lines include: table grapes from South Africa and Italy; apples, pears and stonefruit from Argentina, Chile, Spain and Italy; pomegranates from Spain and Chile; persimmons from Spain; citrus from Spain, Morocco, Argentina, South Africa and Uruguay; kiwifruit from Italy and Chile; and vegetables from the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
Storni added: 'Univeg is becoming more and more global and less European. We understand that this market will bring us a lot of good news in the next few years.'
