Jean-Paul Nuijten

Jean-Paul Nuijten

Dutch fruit export and import company Alexport has extended its range to include Fairtrade pineapples from Ghana.

The company currently sends eight to 10 containers of Costa Rican pineapples to the UK and has decided it is time to introduce a Fairtrade line to its offer.

Team manager for western Europe at Alexport, Jean-Paul Nuijten, told freshinfo: “We have been trading pineapples under our NeroFrutta brand for a couple of years and we think that there is a good opportunity now to supply Fairtrade pineapples to UK supermarkets. We hope that we will eventually be able to supply Fairtrade pineapples under our own brand. Ghana is the biggest Fairtrade pineapple supplier and an obvious choice.”

The rainy season has just come to an end in Costa Rica and high-quality pineapples are coming out of the country, according to Nuijten. There has been a good period of flower setting, although smaller sizes of pineapples can be expected on the market in the coming months.

“The facilities in Ghana are very good and we have established very good relationships with a couple of suppliers in the country to cover the volume we will need,” added Nuijten.