At BerryBrothers, the soft fruit season is in full swing, with red and white berries from CA cold storage, raspberries from Morocco, blackberries from Portugal, and blueberries from Peru. "At the moment, the Christmas rush has not yet started, but it will erupt in full force in the week before Christmas. In recent years, that effect has been short but intense," says Nijs van Zuilen.
Shortage of good-quality blackberries
The berry market varies by product. "Blueberries from Peru are more than sufficient, and prices are at a low level. For high-quality blackberries, on the other hand, we are seeing a major shortage. The supply of raspberries is currently fairly stable, with supply and demand well balanced," says Nijs.
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The market for redcurrants is "on", according to the grower. "You can tell that certain parties are putting pressure on the market to secure volumes, so demand is filled very quickly. Fortunately, we have managed to organise sales well. Personally, I expect that once the holidays are over, we will see a traditionally quiet January, after which the market will pick up again in February, after the trade fair."
Whitecurrants really remain a niche product, according to Nijs. "But they are a unique product that allows customers to clearly distinguish themselves, especially around the holidays. This is also how they are currently positioned on the shelves at Albert Heijn. We expect to have white berries available until March next year."
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High picking and sorting performance
"We are very satisfied with last summer's redcurrant production," says Teun van Zuilen. "We have access to good-quality berries, and picking performance has also been very high. That is important because wages have risen sharply. Since the end of August, we have been supplying red berries from storage, and because the quality is good, sorting performance is also at a high level."
"For December, the climate is currently very mild. In cultivation, we would like to see some more cold hours to ensure sufficient flower development for next year," Teun continues. "The relatively warm weather does stimulate sales to certain channels; for example, deliveries to German weekly markets are continuing well at the moment."
"We have invested heavily in growing in pots in recent years. This has led to higher grading and picking performance. In this way, we really manage to distinguish ourselves from growers who still cultivate in the ground. There are also many berries on the market now that have to be cleared early, but we have not experienced that so far," Teun continues.
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Cultivation of the future
"We are working on the 'teelt van de toekomst' project. With this, we are investigating which steps we need to take to continue growing top-quality soft fruit even five to 10 years from now. In the coming years, 75% of the remaining active substances will be removed from the crop protection package. This increases the risk of crop failure due to diseases and pests. With our innovations and trials, we want fruit to remain accessible for everyone," Teun continues.
Another development is that BerryBrothers' Agro flat at the main location in Roggel will be further expanded next year. In the second phase, two additional complexes will be added, creating space for 64 more people. "All our fruit has to be harvested by hand, so we need a lot of employees," he says. "Future-oriented business is not only about cultivation; good accommodation is also an important part of it," Nijs concludes.
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For more information:
Nijs / Teun van Zuilen
BerryBrothers
Nijken 18
6088 NR Roggel
Tel: +31 (0) 6 46 70 84 53
[email protected] / [email protected]
www.berrybrothers.nl
