"We want to control the entire chain. The quality, the checks, the taste - we want to be able to be transparent about it. Now we know exactly where the product comes from and what has been done to it," says snack tomato grower Bas van Leeuwen. He runs Westburgh nursery (19 ha) with his brother Ton. The company has been importing snack tomatoes in the winter for a few years. The sales doubled annually - but there were also drawbacks. "Our product has to meet strict demands and with import you never know exactly what has happened to the product. We wanted to check every pallet, just to be sure. You also only have so much influence on the choice of variety and cultivation method." Lit cultivation is not a viable option for snack tomatoes and this is why we opted for a cultivation location abroad.
In collaboration with the Spanish entrepreneur yellow, red and orange snack tomatoes are grown, amongst other things. This week the first supply arrived and Van Leeuwen is more than satisfied. "Taste, quality, size, all good. And the residues are far under the stricter supermarket MRL standards. Exactly how we like it."
An area of 25 hectares may sound like a lot for a company that only works on 19 hectares in the Netherlands. Is there demand for that much product? "The yields aren't comparable to those in the Netherlands. Export worthy production is grown on 1/3 here," says Van Leeuwen. "But there are customers. Particularly in the snack segment you need buyers before you start something like that." Corné van Winsen of ZON fruit&vegetables adds: "Since the import has started we have seen the demand for snack products in the winter grow. Now we are serving our customers with taste and quality grown under our control all year round. And the snack tomatoes can be exported to Russia, as they are of Moroccan origin. This wasn't our focus market when we picked this location in June, but with the additional paperwork we can supply Russia."
Greenhouses in Morocco
Westburg doesn't work with advice bureaus, but has a Dutch-Moroccan nursery employee, to organise the day to day business. One of the brothers also visits every three weeks. "Other than this we work with locals."
Van Leeuwen says: "Conditioned transport, not mixed with other produce. We drive with two drivers to shorten the transport time. By communicating during the journey we know exactly when a truck will arrive and can process it immediately. Thanks to all of this we can harvest a riper product and this benefits the taste and colour."