Opinion
Jan-Willem Kaslander, Total Produce:
“The message has to be sent out” Fruit importer Total Produce BV has the Rotterdam mentality of ‘cutting the bull and getting down to work.’ But the overseas importer of fruit is now also going to talk about the major added value of Total Produce as a partner, according to Jan-Willem Kaslander, commercial director, who started his job this year, after coming from the frozen fresh sector. What kind of background do you have? The past 8.5 years I worked as commercial manager for Ardo, a large private label and brand producer of frozen fruit, vegetables and herbs. An important supplier in frozen for all major retailers, foodservice suppliers and industrial customers. The Netherlands was initially my area of responsibility, but that became the entire Benelux in 2014. Before that, I was sales and marketing manager of Maître Paul, which was then part of Nestlé.
Were you tired of the frozen sector? I always enjoyed my job, but I was ready for a new boost in my career. That didn’t necessarily have to be in the frozen sector. On the other hand, I couldn’t just work in any sector, it should be a sector that I've got common ground with. At Ardo we did an increasing volume of frozen fruit in addition to vegetables and herbs, not the volumes that arrive here of course, but fruit 62
AGF Primeur • Special Edition Fruit Logistica • 2018
did become interesting to me. Fruit is a beautiful product segment, and of course, Rotterdam plays a very important role in re-export from all the global production areas. When I was approached for this function, I didn’t have to think long about it. Total Produce BV is one of Europe's largest fruit importers and makes sure its product has the highest quality, combined with the right product and market knowledge. That was the challenge I was looking for. Is the frozen sector very different? Definitely, in the frozen sector we firstly work on the basis of long-term agreements. The opportunism of the fresh produce trade regularly amazes me. Daily trade still plays an important part and there are many links in the supply chain. That will change over time, we estimate. I was even more surprised by the lack of regular structure. I think many processes are still identical to years ago, while customers continue to
develop. The trade itself has changed less than the world around fresh produce. In the frozen sector you see people innovating proactively, and they develop innovations at customer level, suited to consumer trends. These innovations pull existing business into sales and attract new buyers as well. What were you given for the assignment? In 2016, Total Produce made a strategic policy plan that looks to 2020 and even to 2025. We will become even more professionalised in the coming years, internally, but also externally. Category management, transparency, innovations and creating value will be important pillars for that. The days of just pushing around boxes are over, as far as we’re concerned. As an authority in overseas import, we are a beacon of knowledge, and that should be the message we put out. For example, we know everything there is to know about melons. Customers should therefore expect that we take them along in our vision for the future and the trends for this product. What sort of innovations are you thinking of? That could be in concepts, in packaging,