Thesis survey exporting Dutch greenhouse vegetables to Singapore

[AHuyen]

I don't know if this is an universal perception but for me, Dutch agricultural products have always been of a category of looking very good but not necessary of any other outstanding value. I think it started long time ago with the strawberries that simply didn't taste like strawberries.

And what if the products are organic? Or conventional products that contains less pesticides than in comparison with Australia or the United States? That means that the products are more healthier for the consumers. The Netherlands is known for their greenhouse vegetables. Do you think Singaporeans or expats then are willing to pay more for Dutch (greenhouse) vegetables if it is a premium product?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Well, let's put is this way. Oddly enough, I was in NTUC this past Sunday morning to pick up some provisions and as we were going to have a turkey dinner later in the afternoon, my wife requested some brussel sprouts. What is odd is they rarely carry them unless it's the Christmas season, but they might have been ordered for Thanksgiving just past 3 days before. So I picked up a punnet and brought them home. Wasn't till I got home that I noticed they were from the Netherlands! So, later that evening we had them. Now Brussels Sprouts are NOT my favorite vegetable and never have been so I'll eat my token two and that's it. This time I bit into the first one (there was nothing physically wrong with them) and it was bitter as hell. Never tasted a Brussels Sprout that bitter in my life. I ate that one and gave my wife the other one. Whether or not they were greenhouse or not I don't know. But if that is the quality of the Netherlands vegetables, you can keep them.

[x9200]

I don't know if this is an universal perception but for me, Dutch agricultural products have always been of a category of looking very good but not necessary of any other outstanding value. I think it started long time ago with the strawberries that simply didn't taste like strawberries.

And what if the products are organic? Or conventional products that contains less pesticides than in comparison with Australia or the United States? That means that the products are more healthier for the consumers. The Netherlands is known for their greenhouse vegetables. Do you think Singaporeans or expats then are willing to pay more for Dutch (greenhouse) vegetables if it is a premium product?

I don't see you reasonably proving the Dutch food to be healthier than Australian/NZ/USA. Claims without proper backing up may do more damage than good and I strongly suspect you would be eaten alive by the lawyers. No, I would not buy more expensive Dutch food, organic or not, even taking into account I lived in the Netherlands for 4 years and have many Dutch friends also in Singapore.

The Dutch food attractive to me to pay some extra money is the food that has no local substitutes so, for example, I can pay some extra bucks for stroopwafels (available in CS) but I will not pay anything extra for Grolsch biertje, even if it has for me some sentimental value.