On Easter Monday, about 1,500 consumers from all corners of the country visited Pippel Bramen in Haaften during the AH Buitendag (AH Outdoors Day). “It was very nice that so many people are interested in our cultivation,” says Bert-Jan Pippel. The increasing interest for growing greenhouse blackberries, on the other hand, is worrisome. “In the past, expansions often happened per 1,000 metres, but now it’s several hectares at a time. That gives rise to an enormous increase. The demand for blackberries might be increasing, but a blackberry isn’t a strawberry. You can sell a pallet of strawberries within an hour on the market, but that’s not the case with blackberries at all.”
His company is purely specialised in the cultivation of blackberries, and with five hectares of covered, outdoor cultivation and 2.5 hectares of greenhouses they can supply Dutch blackberries from April until Christmas. “In recent years, we have expanded quite a bit, but we only expand on the back of our customers’s demand, otherwise the risk is too large. Practically all of our blackberries are sold before we pick them. Our blackberries find their way to many large supermarket customers in Europe through FruitMasters. Sales to the UK and Scandinavia are increasing, but the majority of our blackberries are sold by Dutch supermarkets, with which we make fixed agreements.”
“The start of the blackberry season went well. We started with good prices at around the same time as last year, but on Koningsdag (King’s Day) sales unfortunately slumped a bit. Prices are now around 1 to 1.10 euro per 150 grammes, but ten days ago, it was still more than 2 euro. And you really should receive 1.50 euro to be cost effective. Some Mexican blackberries are in our way, and of course we had some holidays, and, moreover, it’s actually been too cold to eat soft fruit,” Bert-Jan explains.
“The start is always a bit trickier, because it takes a few weeks before the product is in all of the supermarkets. The large volumes from the greenhouse cultivation will start in two or three weeks, and that is also anticipated with the necessary programmes. But we’ll first have to wait and see how the market develops. The market for blackberries remains of limited size. The market quickly slumps when there’s a surplus, but on the other hand, prices can quickly rise if there’s even the slightest shortage,” Bert-Jan says. For the grower, the summer is even more tense, because part of the outdoor cultivation suffered from frost. “We’ll only see the consequences when it becomes a bit warmer, and flowering starts, but the first flowers have been lost.”
For more information:
Pippel Bramen
Bernhardstraat 31
4175 ED Haaften
Tel: +31 (0)418 59 24 70
Fax: +31 (0)418 59 28 78
info@bramen.nl
www.bramen.nl