Known for their quality due to Flandria’s strict specifications, imposed at the Belgium auctions, Belgian lettuce and tomatoes do a raring trade throughout the EU.
“The export market is very good at the moment; the produce in France and Italy is not that high and Belgium can fill that gap,” says Annemieke De Bruyne of Verantwoordelijke Marketing for Flandria. However, the Belgian product mix has not been so suited to UK tastes, she adds: “The UK market asks for more new salad varieties and Belgium is still quite traditional, with butterhead lettuce being more popular.” Flandria predicts that butterhead volume will be the same as last year’s figure, standing at around 140 million pieces, although volumes of new varieties to Belgium such as lollo bionda, lollo rossa and red oakleaf are expected to increase considerably.
Tjanex Inc, a Belgian trader in fruit and vegetables which exports to wholesalers and retailers all over Europe, produced up to 1.5 m heads of lettuce last year. In terms of salad, the company mainly supplies butterhead lettuce, lollo rossa and oakleaf, as well as a small trade in iceberg, romaine and Chinese leaf. Exporting 60 per cent of its produce to the French market, Peter van Goey, sales manager for Tjanex, says the company exports a maximum of 15 per cent of its product to the UK, and of that 80 per cent consists of strawberries and only 20 per cent is lettuce and vine tomatoes. The popularity of Belgian lettuce lies in the different varieties available, he says. “The only way to survive in this industry is to specialise and get a good reputation for quality.” Maintaining that diversity is the key, van Goey says. The fruit and vegetable trade evolves and grows through different varieties, and salad is no exception.
“Lettuce is very fashionable at the moment, you see trends come and go. One lettuce will be popular one year and disappear the next, it is a fast-paced area,” says van Goey. When asked why he thought there was not a larger demand for Belgian salad in the UK, he answered that there may be some resistance because Belgian’s producers demand higher prices. But he felt that the main reason was the difficulty in selling to UK supermarkets. “We mainly supply the wholesale market in the UK. In terms of packaging it is very difficult to answer to the particular demands of the supermarket. The packhouse is an obstacle.” Van Goey sees this as an injustice, as he believes that Belgian produce is very high in quality, and reinforced by the fact that a grower has to take many steps to get into the Belgian auction and there are many regulations that have to be adhered to. “In comparison, French packaging is no problem, we supply three French supermarket chains with our G de Wulf logo salad products.”
Noel Keersebilck, managing director of REO, an organisation of growers and one of the largest auctions in Belgium, echoes this. He says: “We are probably one of the largest producers of lettuce in Belgium, growing 80m butterhead lettuces and 10m other lettuce heads, but in total we probably export less than one per cent to the UK.
“We only export this little to the UK because it is difficult entering the British retail area. Conditions are very strict and it is tough to comply with all the rules involved.”
REO’s main concern at the moment remains the consumer shift from loose to pre-packaged salad, with this year bringing an increase of five different varieties of outdoor-grown lettuce for that purpose. Keersebilck says: “It is the way the market is going at the moment. We are having to produce the types of salads that can cope with the cutting, washing and bagging process. The traditional butterhead lettuce is too fragile to go into the factories.” As well as looking for different varieties that hold up to the salad bagging process, REO is also investigating how the process can be changed to accommodate for the more delicate lettuce.
This year alone, REO has gone from producing two to three million heads of lettuce to 10m for pre-packed salads alone. Keersebilck says: “Our big export for whole heads of lettuce is Germany. The pre-packaged option is only just starting to happen [there] and we are trying to promote it. The French market is one step ahead and there is a big demand for individual mixed salads. Pre-packed salads is a huge market and I think the industry should prepare itself.”
Bruno van Vaerenbergh, UK sales manager of Vanco, exporter of Belgian fruit and vegetables, does not see the obstacle of British retail demands as an issue when it comes down to trading salad products with the UK, and instead puts low exports down to competition. “Plum vine tomato, vine tomato, loose tomatoes in the size of 57/67 six kg and beef tomatoes are very popular [in the UK] but export to the UK in tomatoes is very limited due to our Dutch competitors,” he says. “We need to buy a great deal of tomatoes from the auctions and follow the market. In the Netherlands they adjust their price after the Belgian salads are sold, in order to sell a lot.”
Van Vaerenbergh finds that the market is still largely motivated by the lowest price and that quality, on the whole, mostly takes second place. He says: “Last year we saw a change in the Elite vine tomato. The Elite vine used to consist of the Durinta variety only, but in 2006 some producers grew vine Bonaparte tomatoes, which were accepted in the Elite brand. The Bonaparte, however, has a shorter shelf life and its shape is not constant. Because of this difference in quality, the Elite brand was downgraded. Therefore, it was not easy to differ from the cheaper Dutch tomato, which obviously had a negative effect on our sales.”
This season Vanco is setting out to counteract this disadvantage with a brand called Grandella. A brand that has come over from the US, the produce will not be sold at the Belgian auction, but according to the Dutch system. Van Vaerenbergh believes that Belgium’s lack of salad trade with the UK is partly due to its geographical situation. He points out: “From what we hear the main issue must be cost-effective growing. Belgium is an expensive country where energy is pricey and wages are high. With the extension of the EU we also have competition from countries that are not dealing with the same costs.”
In relation to Vanco’s business with the UK, van Vaerenbergh says: “In 2006 Vanco Belgium exported 5.9m kg of loose tomatoes and 2.9m kg of vine tomatoes. Only 112,000 kg, not even two per cent of the volume of loose tomatoes and 70,000 kg or 2.4 per cent of the volume of vine tomatoes went to the UK. We do realise this is nothing and we’re hoping to be able to anticipate demand in 2007 with Grandella.”
It seems that new brands and varieties are the way forward for the Belgian salads industry, especially if it wants to take advantage of the trading possibility that is the UK market. At the start of the new season, Flandria brought together all of its high-end produce under one name Flandria Specialty Street, which includes three new varieties: Ministar LycoPlus, Sweet Pink and Torrito. The Ministar LycoPlus is a cocktail tomato with an extra high lycopene content, which the LAVA auctions expect to be a huge commercial success due to the snack appeal of cocktail tomatoes. Launched at the end of March this year, each cluster has between seven and nine cocktail tomatoes, with the average weight of each tomato being 30 grammes. Named due to their distinctive pink colour, Sweet Pink has a sweet flavour and measures between 157 and 187mm in diameter. These tomatoes are expected to be popular but supply will be limited to 10,000kg in 2007. The third new tomato on the block is the distinctive Flandria Torrito, which will be sold in a cluster of mini-tomatoes, each weighing about 22g. With a brix value of nine, the Flandria Torrito is sweet in taste and has a square plum shape. These tomatoes will be available all year round and buyers can expect a supply of 610,000kg.
When asked if the salad market was shifting towards pre-packed products, De Bruyne says that there is a certain pressure apparent from consumers for ready-to-eat and ready-made products. She says: “Flandria invests in new produce development: new varieties with clod, so the crop stays fresh, as with Multicolor salad. Some companies do produce packaged bag salad out of Flandria produce.” Tjanex Inc is also receiving a great deal of demand for fresh lettuce and is feeling the pressure to supply pre-packaged salads. Van Goey adds: “We have rejected a French contract to produce individual mixed salads. If we had taken it we would not be able to specialise - which is key to the industry.” Vanco also seems to be resisting the change, with van Vaerenbergh saying: “We believe the greater part will prefer fresh produce to prepared salads.”
Change is in the air, with many companies considering the Belgian auction an old-fashioned way of trading and hoping that the system will modernise. After competing with the Netherlands for so long, ironically there are rumours that the Belgian market will move towards the Dutch system of trading - which may well be the making of its exporters.
READY FOR A STARRING ROLE
Within three years, StarMeal has become a Belgian market leader in ready-made salads under its own brand. Expecting 100 per cent growth this year, StarMeal gets most of its fresh produce from Flandria, and produces a range of 16 different salads as well as five to 10 salads that change depending on the season.
Lieven Vanlommel, managing director of StarMeal, pictured, says: “The main thing is to consistently combine five factors: buy the best vegetables available, make the decision to chop some vegetables by hand, find combinations that do not adversely affect one another bacteriologically, keep a close eye on freshness during production and motivate your staff.”
