Fred Douven ABB Growers GBC2018

Fred Douven (top right) addresses a crowd of interested delegates at Global Berry Congress 2018 in Rotterdam

Dutch company ABB Growers has confirmed it has established a new blueberry production subsidiary in Serbia.

The project, which was previewed at the recent Fruitnet Forum South-East Europe in Belgrade and last month’s Global Berry Congress in Rotterdam, involves the creation of ABB Growers Serbia in collaboration with a number of local producers.

According to Fred Douven, chief executive and sales director at ABB Growers, Serbia is fast becoming an important blueberry supplier to the European market, especially in June when volumes available elsewhere are not so high.

During the period when Spain and Portugal have finished exporting but Dutch supplies aren’t yet forthcoming, ABB Growers Serbia is expecting to find a significant window open in the market.

ABB Growers plans to carry out initial quality checks in Serbia itself, before taking care of sorting and packaging at its facility in Horst, near Venlo in the southern part of the Netherlands.

“We are pleased with this step forward in the growth of our company, the company’s chief executive Fred Douven commented. “Continuity of fresh, high-quality blueberries is of great importance to us to be able to serve our customers even better.”