Europe could have a lot more of its own organic fresh ginger in the next few years, if the roots of a new project in the Netherlands can generate enough commercial growth.
That’s the goal for Rotterdam-based Sawari Fresh. Established five years ago by entrepreneurs Sander Kleinjan and Arie Havelaar, the company has quickly established itself as a reliable garlic and ginger importer for customers across the continent. Now, it’s on a mission to source ginger from production centres far closer to the market than ever before.
“The biggest idea was to present fresh ginger to the retailer from Dutch soil,” says Havelaar. Two years ago, Sawari began working with local growers to plant organic fresh ginger. And in late 2024, it harvested its first commercial crop and began selling it to customers in the country.
If successful, the project could even be replicated in another European country, where it would supply customers with a similar, local-for-local product.
“The Dutch ginger started really as a trial, to see if it’s possible to grow ginger in the Netherlands, or later maybe in Europe,” Kleinjan explains. For now, he says, the focus is on exploring the best places to grow it. “Because in the Netherlands it’s quite cold, of course. But maybe in other parts of Europe there are possibilities to grow it on a larger scale.”
For the time being, therefore, Sawari’s Dutch-grown ginger is only sold to customers in the Netherlands. But in years to come, this local for local model could be replicated elsewhere.
“I think for the future, instead of getting it from overseas producing countries, it’s important that we [also] produce it in Europe,” Kleinjan adds.
Havelaar sees plenty of opportunity in the retail market, but only in a certain segment of a supermarket’s overall offer. “We cannot compete with imported ginger, because that is way too competitive most of the time. We need to do a lot of promotion towards the consumer [to explain] that it is locally grown, it’s fresher, there’s more juice, the strength is higher and better. These are the things we have to teach people.”
Sawari’s retail sales director is Mark Grim. He believes there is much that the company can do in order to create more excitement among consumers about both ginger and garlic.
“We are thinking almost every day about new concepts,” he says. “If you look at the garlic shelf, you see it’s very common, also a little bit boring. But we think that we can also build the category to tell more about garlic, and also the differences of garlic, and how to use the product in different recipes, what you can do with it.”
