Hollandteelt from Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, has set itself the goal of bringing colour and flavour to plates. Harold Zondag’s cultivation company already supplied five colours of carrot, three different kinds of beetroot, parsnip and scorzonera, and last year they expanded their range with products including crapaudine beetroot, red carrot, turnip and radish.
“Regarding sales, we are widely devoted to export, retail, wholesale trade and food service. Germany is our largest market, but our vegetables are also popular in Scandinavia and Belgium. Consumers are becoming more critical, and want to eat healthy, but not spend too much time on it. In short, customers want more value for less money. Suppliers who anticipate that, are tomorrow’s winners.”
“We want to let people taste real flavour. It is common knowledge that the Dutch have quite a bland palate. People abroad often have much wider tastes; from sweet to salty and from bitter to sour. That margin is very narrow in the Netherlands, and that is a shame. By developing new concepts that optimally bring forward flavour and colour, we want to bring vegetables to consumers' attention, develop new vegetable concepts and offer these products to a wide target audience,” Zondag says.
Last year, Hollandteelt introduced the new line under the brands Stoomgemak and Kookgemak. Under Stoomgemak, the vegetables are delivered with herb butter, and they can be prepared in microwave ovens in five minutes. The Kookgemak is a variation on Stoomgemak, and consists of pre-cooked vegetables, such as Rainbow carrot, yellow beetroot, yellow carrot and chioggia beetroot. This year a new combination packaging followed, in which multiple often-forgotten vegetables are offered. “We looked for an appealing packaging that is also ideal logistically. In addition, our approach was to prevent as much loss as possible,” Zondag concludes.
For more information:
Harold Zondag
Hollandteelt
Olsterweg 17
8256 RV Biddinghuizen