"Courtexport : a reference operator"

Interview with M. Marc RUIZ, Director of COURTEXPORT (Perpignan, France) "Courtexport : a reference operator" The company was established in 1966, when M. RUIZ Ange, the current director's father, run a brokerage activity under the trade name of "COURTEX". On October 17th, 1975, he set up the COURTEX Ltd and became its manager. In 1987, the COURTEX France Ltd was born. In 1996, after the death of the father and eldest brother of the current manager (M. Ange RUIZ in 1994 and M. Claude RUIZ in 1996), it became the COURTEX France plc that was going to be taken over by COURTEXPORT plc in 1998, the company created on March 15th, 1996, by the current director, M. Marc RUIZ. Fructidor : M. Ruiz, as director of Courtexport, could you briefly present your activity ? Marc Ruiz : The COURTEXPORT plc is a company that does import - export and fresh fruit and vegetables wholesale trade. It is specialised in tomatoes, vegetables and in melons, watermelons... In 2001, COURTEXPORT plc represented : - an annual turnover of EUR 33,5 million, - an annual growth of 22%, - an annual tonnage of 49 000 tons, - about twenty employees whose two thirds compose its international and multilingual sales force. Fructidor : You import 90% of Spanish products. According to which criteria do you select your suppliers and who are they ? What is your buying price policy ? Marc Ruiz : Our suppliers are private companies, co-operatives, private exporters. We select them according to their reliability, probity and strong potential ; as for our buying price policy, they supply us with no - defined prices. "We offer to our customers the guarantee of a quality product" Fructidor : What are your key products ? Are all your products resold under your "LUNE DE MIEL" (honeymoon) brand ? Marc Ruiz : We market a large number of fruit and vegetables, tomatoes, "ratatouille" (peppers, courgettes, aubergines...), melons... For a product to benefit from our brand, extreme conditions are imposed to our suppliers through strict specifications concerning farming, harvesting, selection and packaging. Since years, we've been aiming at offering to our customers a guarantee to prevent them from hazardous buying of fruit and vegetables little differentiated on shelves. This quality token has allowed us, notably with the "LUNE DE MIEL" melon, to be elected three successive years, in 1998, 1999, and 2002, at the "Flavour of the year" competition, by demanding consumers. Today, a lot of our products are "LUNE DE MIEL" branded. It has become a reference brand for the end user. In 2002, the "LUNE DE MIEL" - Flavour of the year - melon is available in retailers shelf-spaces... To sum up, I would say that only the best products are sold under the "LUNE DE MIEL" banner. Fructidor : If I understand well, you play an active middleman between the import and export stages. What are your logistic capacities : stocking, transport... ? Marc Ruiz

: We dispose of 5 000 m² of cold store entirely air-conditioned and computerised, and 1 000 m² of office. Fructidor : What are your export markets, on a European and Global scales ? Who are your customers (supermarkets, wholesalers, independent retailers...) ? Marc Ruiz : We work with all the European countries, but also with Poland, Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland. Our turnover is divided into : 33% for supermarkets - 33% for wholesalers - 33% for export - 1% for retailers "We are set up in Perpignan since the creation of the Saint Charles wholesale market in 1971 where we are acting sometimes as a buyer, sometimes as an exporter, depending on the circumstances" Fructidor : On a marketing level, you handle 49 000 tons of products a year. How do you manage such an activity on a day-to-day basis ? In a weak economic context, how would you describe yourself compared with your competitors ? Marc Ruiz : Concerning our day-to-day activity, managing 49 000 tons of products means : - an optimal management of our stocks including processing on all levels, with computers on trucks, supported by a bar codes management and spaces/pallets/batches codification..., - a performing management of computing data and their transfer, - an effective staff organisation, - the maintenance and development of the stocking structure, respecting the cold chain, the improvement of traceability and quality control by the use of state-of-the-art technologies..., - regular investment in up-to-date communication means, mobile phones & Internet, - the permanent will to innovate. As for relationship we have with our competitors, I think we strongly differ from them by our modernity, our renowned experience in the sector, our visionary attitude and uncommon reactivity. Fructidor : What would you say about the fruit and vegetables channel in Europe today ? According to you, what progress are still to make ? Marc Ruiz : In this beginning of century, the consumer rediscovers the benefits of fruit and vegetables, synonymous of health. These last ones recover their true value and then, a certain nobility towards the consumer, compared with other products very fashionable last century, but that raise questions today about their quality. Main progress is double : 1) The follow-up and quality improvement of products, varieties and farming conditions. 2) Strong communication and marketing on products : their properties and importance. Fructidor : What are your projects for the future ? Marc Ruiz : We still have a lot of plans in mind. One of them is to advertise on TV (ex. more than 500 commercials every month from May to June on the cable television "gourmet TV"...).