"Share of market traders now choosing coast over stall"

The heat is causing a lot of people to consuming more fruit. Wholesalers are noticing this in the de…

The heat is causing a lot of people to consuming more fruit. Wholesalers are noticing this in the demand. De Blaeij in Evergem sells more fruit than vegetables, and with Valckenier in Brussels the soft fruit is almost running away. "We had good sales this morning (Friday). Everything is going quickly. We can't complain," says Frank Valcknier.

Top quality
Valckenier is currently only buying top quality fruit. "Of course, the soft fruit has to be able to handle the heat a bit and be able to take a bump. We notice that customers are prepared to pay more for the products. For instance, imagine you have 1.50 and 2.25 Euro strawberries, you're better to pick the more expensive ones. If you buy the 1.50 ones you'll probably have to throw out some of them and you will end up spending just as much money. Buyers realise this."

He has his products outside of the cooling as little as possible. "We leave almost everything in the fridge. Our stall has as little as possible displayed. When we are purchasing we make sue that the truck isn't left outside with the produce. There is cooling in the truck, but the best thing to do is get the product in the cooling cell as quickly as possible."

De Blaeij, Evergem
The market days in Everegem are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Perry Verstraaten of wholesaler De Blaeij: "We sell very few vegetables and a lot of fruit. A lot of our buyers are from the ambulant trade. What is striking is that some of them have decided not to go to the market on Saturday. They say that it is bad for the products. For customers with a shop it's different. They can protect their fruit and vegetables inside."