The Indian grape grower Eurofruits has been supplying grapes to Albert Heijn for ten years now; this spring they supplied no less than half a million kilos. Indian founder Nitin Agrawal, who visits the Netherlands almost every month, likes the informal, Dutch way of doing business. "Every conversation with Dutch people starts with a joke."
Shock
After Indian grape grower Eurofruits gained a foothold in Britain in the early 1990s, the company made the leap to the Netherlands. In 1995, Nitin Agrawal landed at Schiphol Airport for the first time. It was late at night, he didn't know anyone and he had no idea where to go. At Schiphol they sent him to a hotel on the Damrak, and before he knew it he was walking with his wife through the Red Light District. "I didn't know what I saw. We were in shock, yes, even a little scared."
Family atmosphere
Some twenty years later, Agrawal still has a good laugh about it. He now visits the Netherlands almost every month, working closely with Dutch fruit importer and exporter Timerfruits. One of the founders of Timerfruits, Eric Brückner, met Agrawal on his first visit in 1995. "We got along well right away," Agrawal recalls. "At the time, Eric worked for a small company with a nice family atmosphere. I felt comfortable with that. However, I had to convince him that we had good grapes in India."
State-of-the-art
Leave that to Agrawal. In 1993, in the Indian grape and wine region of Nashik, about 200 kilometres north of Mumbai, he built state-of-the-art facilities based on those he had seen in Britain. "When people from Albert Heijn first came here, they didn't know what they were looking at," he laughs. "Many people still have a one-sided view of India. They are surprised that we have the most modern production, processing and storage facilities here. For us, of course, that is crucial: otherwise we would never have got contracts from big international customers like Albert Heijn, Carrefour and Marks&Spencers."
Humour and patience
Although Agrawal often sees that cooperation between Indian and Dutch companies is awkward, he actually enjoys working with the Dutch. "Of course, our cultures are totally different. India is a different planet, not comparable to the Netherlands. That is why you have to take the time to understand each other. If you don't have the patience for that, things will go wrong. Humour is also crucial. The Dutch are masters at breaking the ice with a joke. Indians generally appreciate the informal, open atmosphere that this creates. That humour is a magic bullet for doing business is something I really learned from you."
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