Wednesday, March 4th, the strawberry season was inaugurated with the sale of the first strawberries that were introduced by BelOrta. These strawberries were supplied by Wim Meyers from Meyers Softfruit and another strawberry grower. “We started about three days later this year compared to last year. Given the dark days we have had, that is not too bad. It shows that we managed to counteract them well in recent weeks," says Wim Meyers from Meyers Softfruit.
“We are now offering strawberries cultivated under lights for the third year and are satisfied with the current state of cultivation. The strawberries are well formed, which means that we have nice, large sizes and the quality is good," Wim continues. “We see that there is quite a demand for Belgian strawberries. Many individuals ask us when the supplies will open again and if you look at the prices of the winter cultivation, you can say that the Belgian strawberries were well established during the winter months. ” 
“You hear that there will be shifts in Belgium and the Netherlands towards illuminated cultivation. Then the question is, is that going to be pure winter cultivation or a system like we do, force it a bit so that you can harvest three weeks earlier? Time will tell. Everything that is produced early in the season will then no longer be produced in April and May, which may cause prices to rise. For the time being it remains to be seen how the market will evaluate itself, but it is certain that there is increasing interest in exposed cultivation, " says Wim.
Within a few months, the productions of blackberries and red berries from greenhouses will start again. “We hope that the blackberry season will be a lot better than last year. Last spring was incredibly bad for the blackberries. The red berries that we grow are for the fresh market when the berries from the store are gone. It is always hard to tell, but we hope that we will have a nice soft fruit season this year ”, Wim concludes.
For more information:
Wim Meyers
Meyers Softfruit 
Allewijstraat 3
B-3770 Riemst
+32 (0) 478 938 826
info@meyers-softfruit.be
www.meyers-softfruit.be