The rising temperatures may be causing an increased salad consumption, but for corn salad grower Marcel Janssen summer remains a boring season. "Corn salad is a real winter vegetable. In the summer we have to fight other lettuce varieties for a spot."
A summer mash with corn salad and roma tomatoes, a sunny salad with corn salad, pine nuts and strawberries, or summer on a plate with the combination of beetroot and corn salad. Many consumers hardly seem to know, but corn lettuce is actually a winter vegetable. "It's best with a lot of cold and frost," says grower Marcel Janssen from Venlo. "It used to only be around in the winter. There's less competition from other green things then. In these months there's so much supply that you have to fight for a place." Besides, the cultivation is more difficult in the summer. "We know the product well by now, but we have to work hard to keep it neat."
All in all quite an ordeal - but for Janssen it isn't an option to stop the corn salad cultivation in the summer and fill his entire greenhouse with a different product. "We grow a number of vegetables and herbs and as of the spring we have had a few special products such as Wasabi Rucola. As far as cultivation is concerned it would be possible, but almost 90% of our production goes to catering. They want to be able to buy it all year round." His entire business is focussed on this higher segment. The sales are direct and lines are short to ensure the product reaches the customer as quickly as possible after the harvest. In the winter this even means that the winter purslane is only harvested when it has been ordered, and a morning order is supplied the same afternoon.
Marcel has also been packaging the corn salad on lettuce for years. "With loose water in the bottom the product stays good and is well proportioned," he explains. Partially thanks to the packaging, he knows how to avoid competition. "I have read that the area of corn salad is growing. I think more is being supplied to the large Belgian auctions than ten years ago. It has become a big product there - but not so much in the Netherlands. It's eaten a lot in Germany and Belgium, and produced a lot in France." The French corn salad is harvested very young and by machine. "A nice product, which has a good shelf life in a bag," says Janssen. "The packaged corn salad in bags is suitable for the cooled section of the supermarket. It's a completely different segment. We focus on very short lines, harvest by hand to order. Not a stored product, but salad that you can see is fresh." It can't be done on a large scale - never mind packaging on water. "Of course it's not great if a tub of water gets spilt in your shopping trolley," Janssen laughs. "But we like the extra attention we can give our product. And the positive reactions from the customer. That's why we do it."