Worldwide fresh produce search engine Hairyape has passed the 1,000 customer mark.

The site, which was set up in July 2000, has received more than 800 new registrations in the past year and now boasts more than 4,500 lines of information. In order to appear on the site, a company must enter produce into the database, so some of the 1,000 companies will not be live yet.

The site's Martin Clifford said: 'We feel that once a company has gone to the trouble of creating a website there should be an industry portal for them to link into to guide prospective customers to them. The e–commerce boom within the trade will happen but at the moment it is one step at a time.' Hairyape works at the same pace as its customers, accepting it may take some time for them to set up a worldwide site. Its motto is: 'Tomorrow's winners will work at the pace of the industry and not the pace of technology.' Clifford added: 'The site is hit 24 hours a day from suppliers and buyers all around the world, so we are not specifically a tool for the UK trade. In particular the suppliers in the Far East are quickly appreciating the usefulness of the internet and its possible links to new outlets around the world.' Of the 1,000 companies, approximately 40 per cent are European, 25 per cent from the Far East, 15 per cent from the Americas, 10 per cent from Africa, five per cent from Australasia and five per cent from the Middle East. Looking to the future, Hairyape plans to translate the site into a variety of languages.