The Easter weekend always guarantees strong asparagus sales. "And fortunately, Easter falls nice and late this year, which means we have plenty of asparagus available. Sometimes Easter falls early, and people assume there's already an abundance of asparagus, and then we end up disappointing customers," says Willem van Gerven.
He sees strong demand at the moment. "Demand has increased very quickly, almost out of nowhere, and the sunny weather certainly plays a role in that. When the weather is nice, everyone wants to eat asparagus, and luckily, the supply is always good," says Willem. He sees it as a big advantage that asparagus remains a truly seasonal vegetable. "That's why people are so eager for it. It's the first vegetable from the Dutch outdoors, and everyone looks forward to it."
Willem and Renée van Gerven with daughter Silje
Broad sales
Van Gerven can count on broad sales to supermarkets, wholesalers, greengrocers, and the hospitality sector in the Benelux. He also supplies a few wholesalers in western Germany and northern France. "Before the corona pandemic, most of our customers were in the hospitality sector, but we had to explore other segments during that time, and now our sales are much more diverse. We always say that anyone can buy asparagus from us," says Willem.
"But we mainly look for customers who want to stand out in terms of flavour. For example, we grow mostly the Cumulus variety, which often wins awards for best-tasting asparagus. This variety doesn't give the highest yield per hectare, but it is the tastiest and also looks the most appealing. Many other growers avoid this variety because of its lower yields, but that's not as important to us. We prefer a variety that produces the very best and most beautiful asparagus," says Willem.
Willem, Renée and parents Jan and Sandra
Van Gerven Asperges grows its crops within a 20-kilometre radius around the farm in Oirschot. Its most well-known field lies along the A58 motorway. Willem represents the third generation of the family business, which began 80 years ago when his grandfather started growing asparagus. In 1958, Grandpa Willem van Gerven sold his first asparagus to local dignitaries in and around Oirschot. At the time, only the well-off could afford the then relatively expensive asparagus. Later, it became accessible to a broader group of asparagus lovers.
From 6 to 83 hectares
Despite a general decline in asparagus acreage in the Netherlands, Van Gerven has expanded from 6 to 83 hectares over the past 12 years. "I'm a young entrepreneur, so I want to move forward," he says. Although Willem considers growing purple or green asparagus each year, for now, he sticks to cultivating white asparagus. "We're fully set up for that, and what we do, we want to do really well," explains the grower. "That level of quality comes at a cost. Somehow, people in the Netherlands still tend to focus heavily on the auction price, but that only represents a small fraction of the total asparagus market. We always need a few euros more for our class I asparagus than what the auction offers, but we attract buyers who are looking for flavour."
AA white Excellent
"Our biggest challenge is organising the entire process efficiently. Fortunately, we can still find staff quite easily. Every spring, most of the same workers return to help harvest the asparagus. Thankfully, the conditions for the cutters are much more pleasant than last year, when they hardly got a chance to take off their rain gear," says Willem. He is closely following developments in harvesting robots, though he insists the cutting quality must be just as good. "If the cost structure makes sense, we'll definitely make the switch."
For more information:
Willem van Gerven
Van Gerven Asperges
Hoeven 7
5688 GS Oirschot
[email protected]
www.vangervenasperges.nl