The Dutch soft fruit supply is quickly being put onto the market due to the current hot weather, "Temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86* Fahrenheit) is not good for anyone, including the product. So we need to step up our efforts in production and logistics in order to get the product to the customers as quickly as possible. This requires skill and organizational ability; fortunately, we are seeing Dutch retailers plan additional promotions to capture some of the market pressure," says fruit team leader Gerard van Loon from The Greenery.
"So far the Dutch soft fruit season has been doing reasonably well. The tunnel farmed strawberries were not early, but both qualitatively and in terms of sales, we have had very few problems and the product has been selling nicely. In the last weekend of June strawberry prices increased somewhat, now prices for strawberries are around 2.20 - 2.50 Euro per kilo. The start of the season was rougher for raspberries due to the presence of Spanish raspberries on the market. There is a shortage of blackberries, which is good for the price," says Gerard. "In this period we are mainly dependent on Dutch customers for sales because the countries surrounding us are self-sufficient. But a large volume of soft fruit is being exported to Scandinavia."
Red currants
"Because the stored red currants were as good as those at the beginning of the new season, red currant sales did well. When the tunnel farming started, the price was under pressure. This was partly due to increasing volume from Southern Europe (Portugal). Right now the market is fairly balanced. With the expected high temperatures we will have to wait and see how many berries get burned by strong radiation from the sun. This can especially impact the amount of berries later in the season. The harvest of outdoor grown gooseberries starts this week. We are seeing an increasing interest for this product from our retail customers," says Gerard.
Blueberries
The Greenery get their blueberries from two large growers in the north and south of the country, with a total of 197 acres. "Thanks to our strawberry customers we have developed a stable customer base. The growers deliver their product in bulk, after which the blueberries are packaged at Zachtfruitcentrum Schalkwijk (Soft Fruit Center, Schalkwijk, The Netherlands), which belongs to Anton van Garderen," says Gerard. According to Gerard, the competition with other summer fruit is not greater than in other years, "People buy soft fruit in combination with stonefruit. Top fruit would feel the competition more."