“Fennel from the greenhouse and outdoor are not comparable”

Henk van Doorne is 68 years old but he still takes care of the sales of his own lettuce and that of colleague horticulturalists with full dedication. Starting this week, after being completely focused on lettuce for a year, he also has fennel available from his own greenhouse. “My favourite cultivation,” he says. “And much more flavourful than outdoor fennel.”

The season traditionally starts around 20 April, but greenhouse fennel hardly has early prices. “There’s still quite a bit of fennel from abroad. We have to compete with Italian and Spanish product. But greenhouse fennel is a completely different product than outdoor fennel, but it also has completely different costs and should therefore also yield more. People should really taste it to notice the difference. Besides, we cut them early, and they might be a little smaller because of that, but it ensures we can supply flavourful, fresh fennel, which doesn’t taste as woody.”

In the past there were still some growers of greenhouse fennel in the Westland. “Now I know just one grower who has 1,000 metres, but I don’t know any others, nor does my plant breeder,” the grower says. He primarily sells the greenhouse fennel to surrounding exporters. “Fair amounts are sent to Germany, France and Switzerland.”

Domestically, Henk can’t really get people excited for the greenhouse fennel yet. “We’ve done everything to boost consumption. For example, we delivered recipe folders in the crate or box, but it didn’t have much effect,” the grower continues. “Until mid-June, people will be able to eat greenhouse fennel again. After that, outdoor fennel arrives, and I’ll have to make sure I’m off the market.”