AGF-Online is a German specialist and is currently receiving plenty of German vegetables. The Dutch company started with the first spring onions and carrots from Germany almost 20 years ago. And it is still as optimistic about the quality of these products. "There's more than enough trade in Germany; unfortunately, there are many hands short for harvesting," says Maxime van der Meij-Selleger. "Prices are gradually rising, but we'd much rather harvest and sell far more at somewhat lower prices. If only we had the people."
"Things have been going awry for the last few weeks, especially on Thursdays when it's shift change. Before, the old shift would continue for a day longer, and the new one would start immediately. That meant we had double staff and could get a good amount of work done," Maxine continues. "Now, on those days, that extra carrot order causes issues. The old team thinks it's all good, while the new team is slow at getting going and unfazed about the extra work."
"The amount of fuel the fleet uses is also becoming a real problem. We're expecting the first sweetcorn on Monday. A full load of corn easily weighs 40 tons, so that's definitely going to use some fuel. Maybe next year we can pass that on, but this year we just can't," she explains. "Everyone knows about the fuel prices, but as soon as we increase spring onion prices a tad, we get flack from all sides. A crate of healthy, fresh spring onions now costs almost the same as half a packet of Marlboro."
But there is one positive thing - the products look great. "The corn is wonderful: beautiful, and sweet. We can deliver them loose, in trays, shucked or unshucked - anything's possible. And we have the nicest carrots and onions. The pea season seemed to be over, but we can harvest again. We have beautiful German celery, huge kohlrabi, and lovely radishes; all actually way too cheap. This week we also sowed the first pumpkins for Halloween," concludes Maxime.
For more information
AGF-Online
Tel: +31 (0) 180 649 649
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.agf-online.nl