Scherpenhuizen banking on Spanish cultivation of mini cucumbers

For several years now, Scherpenhuizen has been growing cucumbers on an acreage of 10 hectares in Don Benito - halfway between Madrid and Lisbon. This season, half of the acreage has been reserved for cultivation of mini cucumbers. "I expect us to grow 100% mini cucumbers in this greenhouse within two years. Ten hectares of snack cucumbers is nothing to sneeze at, but we are seeing a market for it," says Martin Scherpenhuizen.

Martin Scherpenhuizen

"Last year, we did a trial with snack cucumbers, which was a great success. We grew the Quarto and Qwerti varieties from Rijk Zwaan, which do very well when it comes to taste and quality," Martin says. He has great confidence in the cultivation. "The snack cucumbers have now reached the level of snack tomatoes ten years ago. Also, not a lot of seeds are available yet, and the market won't be saturated any time soon."

Dutchman Edwin de Craen supervises the Spanish cultivation. Growing mini cucumbers isn't exactly easy. "It's a very labour-intensive cultivation. You have to harvest both in the morning and in the afternoon, so that the cucumbers can meet the required weight of 35 to 40 grammes," says Martin. The snack cucumbers are packaged per set of seven, in 250 gramme cups.

The snack cucumbers are sold to European retail, in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom respectively. The season in Spain runs from September until June. For now, Scherpenhuizen will have to do without snack cucumbers during the summer months.

For more information:
Martin Scherpenhuizen
Scherpenhuizen
De Keten 15
5651 GJ Eindhoven
Tel: +31(0)40-2584684
Fax: +31(0)40-2584612
www.scherpenhuizen.nl