Carrots From China
"We have known for many years that our carrots are good quality and will sell in Europe. But we needed someone to help us. Nationwide have visited us several times and gave us good advice. We have built a big business with Nationwide over the years. We have a good brand and a precious partnership with a company we trust. We are proud of our strong and trusting relationship with Nationwide and hope it will last for many more years to come."
Jiang Jing
Rizhad Corp
China
Carrots From China
The Challenges
In recent years we have seen a considerable increase in enquiries from Asian suppliers via our website. We have had several suppliers in China emailing us pictures of fresh carrots. The product always looks good on the email photos we have received so we decided to investigate further. Firstly, we asked the government body DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) if they had any issues with us importing fresh carrots from China. They said in principle they did not although they warned us that they had checked their files and there was no record of anyone having ever imported fresh carrots from China into the UK before. Furthermore, they told us that they had spoken to their colleagues on the Continent and had not come across anyone with any experience of importing fresh carrots from China. Therefore, they made it clear that they would examine any product imported into the UK thoroughly – particularly with regards to pesticide levels. It soon became clear that this would be a challenge and would not be simply a case of “trying a container”. We needed to understand the whole process of carrot growing, harvesting, washing, grading, packing and shipping to be able to answer any questions that may arise from the authorities.