“Spanish asparagus alternative to South American asparagus”

Teboza has been active for several years already in the cultivation of asparagus in Andalusia. “We see that the Spanish cultivation meets a need. We want to provide an alternative to South American asparagus, by distinguishing ourselves from these with flavour, flexibility and transportation distance. We expanded significantly in Spain in recent years, at first with just our own cultivation, but by now we also cooperate with about ten cultivators — each with an area between three and ten hectares — who cultivate for us,” says Will Teeuwen.

Teboza cultivates Spanish asparagus mainly for the Dutch, Belgian and German market. “Those are our domestic markets, but we would like to expand on those. For example, we are seriously looking at the Swiss and Scandinavian markets. We start our Spanish harvest at the beginning of February, and when early outdoor cultivation starts in the Netherlands mid-April, we choose to either continue or stop. However, we have already been testing for a number of years to cultivate Spanish asparagus during this period (September-October) as well, and especially green asparagus is doing very well. Starting in the autumn of 2017, we will be able to supply our customers with plenty of Spanish asparagus,” Teeuwen says.

“We have had an excellent growing season in Spain. We have just had a very hot period, but that is not a problem considering our available water supply. The crops are very strong. The plots we will harvest next year are now resting. These plants will not receive water anymore and will slowly die, the harvest will then start at the beginning of February. Last year, we had a bad spring because of the cold weather, but under normal circumstances we have large volumes available,” Teeuwen continues.

Teeuwen does not consider the Spanish cultivation to be a competitor of the Dutch asparagus. “We continue to bet on early (greenhouse) cultivation of the Dutch asparagus. This will always remain an exclusive and premium product. The cultivation in Spain is definitely not increasing in general, and there is too little knowledge of the product to be innovative, but we do see more interest in the Dutch way of working,” Teeuwen concludes.

Teboza will be present at three fairs in the coming weeks:

The Netherlands
Tel: +31 - (0) 77 307 14 44
Fax: +31 - (0) 77 307 73 98
verkoop@teboza.nl
www.teboza.com