Organic pear sales have yet to take off. "I have a feeling that sales this season are not as smooth as last year. Still, the Qtee is pretty much gone by now. Moreover, we have already sorted some Conference, so I expect it is quietly getting going," says Gerard Kenens of VerKen Bio Deli-Vers.
© Gerard Kenens
Qtee
"It is starting a bit later than last year, but in the end I think it will all work out," continues the organic grower from Loksbergen, Flanders. "Normally, we start with Qtee, and then Conference follows. That is progressing like other years, so that is positive. I do not expect any further problems with the pears in storage either. Everything looked very good after picking. We had nice volumes, and they will remain stable into the new year. The quality is good, and we estimated the picking time well, so there is no chance of storage issues."
Piqa Red as conventional
"The Piqa Red, too, has now been graded and gone on sale. This year, we were able to pick the first full crop. It looked good, and in the end, we are happy with how the pears came off the young trees. We market these entirely through Devos-Wouters, and this year they still went under the conventional flag. The harvest was too small to sell independently as organic, but the fact that the pears were of such quality that we could place them within the conventional offering without any problems is very positive. They were perhaps slightly rougher, but very good in flavour. Next year, we hope to actually market them as organic."
© Gerard Kenens
Conference
Santana almost gone, Jonagold and Natyra marketed simultaneously
As for the apples, Gerard is also satisfied. "We mainly have Santana and Natyra on the trees. There is also some Jonagold, but we are harvesting these piece by piece for GoodnessMe. The apple harvest has turned out well, with good volumes. The use of flower blowing has clearly contributed to an even size and good bedding. All in all, I am reasonably satisfied with how the season is going. Sales could perhaps move a little faster, but the preparation and quality of both pears and apples are good."
"Meanwhile, the Santana is fully sold at the auction level. That went quite fast," he explains. "As for Natyra, we expect sales to run concurrently with Jonagold again this year. More volume of Natyra will again become available. Moreover, there is a lot of Jonagold on the market, so there is no room to market them one after the other."
© Gerard KenensJonagold on the left and Natyra on the right
"If there are larger volumes, you cannot leave those apples for too long. In the early years, we had little Natyra, and it was often placed later in the season, but now that volumes are increasing, we have to plan sales closer together. Otherwise, we will soon be left with very good apples because we were too late. That is not the intention either."
Potential GoodnessMe
Beyond these varieties, the organic growing company is also increasingly investing in the GoodnessMe variety, for which Devos-Wouters holds the licence in the Benelux, and which VerKen Bio Deli-Vers was the first to plant. "Those trees were planted this spring and are expected to produce the first marketable organic fruit next year. We do not expect the first full harvest of organic GoodnessMe until around 2027, as new plantings only deliver reasonable volumes after 2-3 years. Among us, the trade and the variety owner, confidence in the variety's potential is high."
© Gerard Kenens
GoodnessMe
For more information:
Gerard Kenens
VerKen Bio Deli-Vers
Zilveren-Helmenstraat 74
3545 Loksbergen, Belgium
Tel: +32 474199809
www.facebook.com/verkenbiodelivers
