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Fulfilling a niche for fresh fruit boxes

Source:Food Bev Asia Release Date:2017-04-19 1122
Food & Beverage
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Marie-Christine Luijckx shares the success story of Fruitful Day, a company that provides fresh fruit to offices and homes in the UAE

Fruitful Day is making it convenient for customers to add the season’s fruits to their daily diet.  Established in 2015, the company delivers choice fruits to doors across Dubai’s fast-paced life – in offices and homes.  While the concept may sound simple, it satisfies a growing demand for fresh and healthy food on the go.  A great deal of effort actually goes into the business of fresh products, from selecting the sources of best produce and making sure these remain at their best by delivery, to the type of packaging, and the logistics and distribution. Marie-Christine Luijckx who is currently a Managing Partner at Fruitful Day explains more in an exclusive interview conducted by FMJE correspondent Zainab Mansoor.

Marie-Christine Luijckx, Managing Partner at Fruitful Day

What can customers expect from Fruitful Day?

Fruitful Day delivers boxes of fresh fruit to offices and homes across Dubai, UAE.  Our aim is to help incorporate healthy eating habits in everyday lives by delivering delicious and thoughtfully curated selections of fresh fruit.  Currently, there are two types of box; staples and discovery, and two sizes of each, small (25 servings) and large (50 servings). The staples boxes, small and large, are priced at AED 95 and 175 respectively. The Discovery ones, small and large, are slightly higher, at AED 125 and 225, respectively.

What made you start this company?

The concept evolved out of our personal experiences of working long hours in corporate jobs with very few healthy choices leading to an unhealthy diet and loss in productivity at the workplace.   

We felt that, for companies and workplaces, it is important for employers to value relationships with their employees and to show them that they care and are invested in their health and the quality of their lives; health is wealth, after all.

Helping employees make small choices towards a healthy lifestyle has a material impact on staff engagement, morale, satisfaction, and motivation.  Of course a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables also helps protect against a variety of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Which void is Fruitful Day looking to fill in the UAE food landscape?

In launching a fruit box company that delivers a curated box of fresh fruit directly to your home or office, we saw an opportunity to help people make the right choices about fruit when time is limited and cut down on: the time needed to research, source and select fruit, particularly in the region and in season; the time needed to actually purchase the produce and wash and prepare it for consumption.

How do you choose the fruit and other materials?

We focus on selecting in-season and wherever possible in-region fruit.  We have chosen our suppliers based on the quality of their produce and ability to source regionally grown fruits.  If the supplier has organic produce, that is an added advantage.  The delivery boxes are reusable and recyclable.

A sample of Fruitful Day's fruit box

A sample of Fruitful Day's fruit box 

How do you maintain quality within the supply chain?

What sets us apart is our knowledge about fruit, which allows us to deliver fresh, ripe, and healthy snacks bursting with flavor.  It may seem easy to pick up your own fruit off the shelves, but the fact that you find fruit all year around at the supermarket has nothing to do with how nature arranges itself and everything to do with global business and logistics. 

Speaking generally, in nature, any fruit season lasts no more than 1-3 months, which means if you’re buying fruit in the wrong season its coming straight out of a cold room where it could have been stored for up to 10 months.  Also, choosing for perfect-looking fruit won’t help you identify the best fruit, because invariably such fruit has been sprayed to look ripe when really it isn’t at all and unfortunately unripe fruit invariably tastes of nothing and is a huge disappointment. 

Our Chief Fruit Officer, Yael Mejia, has decades of experience in the industry and ensures we’re selecting our fruit at its peak, so you can be reacquainted with the same experience that our parents and grandparents took for granted - delicious in-season and in-region fruit!

How health-conscious are customers of today?

Consumers in the UAE are increasingly health-conscious and passionate about food and sustainability. They are also global citizens who travel regularly, meaning that they are prepared to try new fruits and flavors.  On the corporate side, UAE is placing a huge emphasis on the health of its citizens and as a result more employers now see the benefits of providing fruit for their staff.

Is customer education a part of your product offerings?

We work with a nutritionist to publish educational content throughout the year.  During Ramadan, for instance, we included a leaflet in our boxes with Ramadan nutrition fruit facts.  At the start of the school year, we produced a playful and educational leaflet for children encouraging them to eat their 5 a day.   

What are your expansion plans in terms of product portfolio and geographies?

In terms of product portfolio, we have just launched a Fruitful Day gifting range.  Our gift boxes are intended for people looking to give the gift of health and send a positive message.  They’re perfect for a Corporate who is looking to focus on health & wellness or an individual who is looking for a unique and thoughtful gift.   

In the future, we are considering expanding our geographical reach to Abu Dhabi or possibly other Emirates. 

We do not currently have plans to expand outside the UAE as there is so much we would like to achieve here and plenty of room for growth. We really believe that focus is the price that successful businesses pay to deliver excellent customer service and results. However, we would not rule it out – God-willing, we will have that opportunity in the future! 

Describe a normal day at the Fruitful Day warehouse.

It’s always an early start at Fruitful Day – our corporate clients need their fruit boxes at the start of their day so we make sure our drivers are out the door by 8am.  At the core of our daily activities is checking the taste and ripeness of the fruit.  Each piece of fruit is hand-checked before it is wrapped and placed in one of our boxes. 

Contact details:

Marie-Christine Luijckx

Managing Partner

E: mc@fruitfulday.com

W: www.fruitfulday.com

 

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