Avocado grower-importer HL Hall & Sons has announced that it is to open a second European office this year, based in France, to better serve customers across continental Europe.
The office, a branch of HL Hall (International) Ltd, will commence trading out of Rungis, Paris from 1 February 2010, increasing proximity and coverage across an expanding European customer base, according to the group.
Some of the current European trading team, currently based in Kent, UK, will relocate to France to take up new positions. The Parisian office boasts on-site cold storage and ripening facilities, and will hold avocados, mangoes, lychees, citrus fruit and other crops.
'With a good avocado crop in 2009, new lines of supply and our reputation for exceptional quality and service, we were able to develop new relationships with customers across the continent, particularly in the French retail and wholesale markets,' said Paul Devlin, director of HL Hall International. 'The excellent South African avocado crop and our responsiveness to what was a challenging market towards the end of last year allowed us to prove ourselves to new customers and strengthen our relationships with those longstanding.
'We want to build on that through 2010 by getting closer to our customers and ensuring the speedy and efficient programming of our growers' fruit,' he added.
The group, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009, markets fruit from Halls farms in South Africa as well as sourcing fruit from its worldwide partners to offer year-round programmes to customers.
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