For the past two weeks, Gerard van den Anker has taken some time off from his role as general manager at Veiling Zaltbommel, as he was busy with his own pear harvest. "We can speak of a fantastic harvest. In other years, growers had to put in more effort to get the fruit out of the orchard, but now we have perfect harvesting weather."
© Zaltbommel
Gerard van den Anker
"On top of that, this year's harvest is of incredibly good quality, and much better compared to last year, when we had a long, wet period. Moreover, last year there was hail damage in many parts of the Netherlands, while this year it was very limited. The quality and flavour are exceptional this year, and that offers great prospects for sales," Gerard continues. "There is also already strong demand for the new harvest. Timber sales have been good, and there have been several retail promotions with the new top fruit."
© Zaltbommel
"The Elstar remains primarily an apple for the Dutch market, and in addition, there is strong demand abroad for pears. So as far as we are concerned, all signals are green. The WAPA figures also showed that there is potential in the sales market. In Italy, it is becoming increasingly difficult to grow good pears, and many growers are stopping. With the more extreme weather in southern Europe, growing pears there is becoming more challenging. For us, water availability is becoming increasingly important, but we are still grateful that, despite the changing climate, we can grow our product here."
For Gerard, cultivating his own pears on a few hectares is a nice complement to his role as director. "My grandfather used to be on the board of Veiling Zaltbommel, so the Van den Anker name has long been associated with the auction. I enjoy attending grower meetings, as I face the same challenges as my growers. Those challenges are becoming greater and greater in bringing the crop to a successful harvest, but fortunately, this year it all worked out well."
For more information:
Gerard van den Anker
Veiling Zaltbommel
Stationsweg 28
5301 KH Zaltbommel
Tel: (+31) 06 51012063
[email protected]
www.veilingzaltbommel.nl
