Early Oerlemans Bird Gets the Business In Frozen Organic Vegetables and Fruits.

Spring sprang early this year in the Netherlands, and Venlo-based Oerlemans Foods and its growers moved to get ahead of the game to make the season a success -- especially in its Bio Unique range of organic fruits and vegetables.

In fact, production for Bio Unique began in January with

Processing of red cabbage with apples took place in February at the company's Keizer Foods plant in Waalwijk. Leek production began in March, to continue through November. Organic creamed spinach production was set for May, and peas for June. The rest of the organic processing schedule:

* July: beans

* August-December: carrots

* September-October: cauliflower

* November-December: celeriac

"Oerlemans' participation in the Bio Fach and Roka exhibitions in Nuremberg and Utrecht was very successful," said Jan Hulsen, managing director. "We got a lot of interest for our fresh-frozen products. This indicated that we are taking a leading role in the market for frozen organic vegetables, fruit and potato products."

To meet anticipated demand, Oerlemans is internationalizing Bio Unique operations. "This year, our production companies in Poland and Hungary will again make a relevant contribution to organic production," said Hulsen. "Also supported by the long-standing cooperation we have with reliable suppliers, we will steadily increase the volume of Bio Unique products during the coming years."