Netherlands: Organic strawberries from Portugal at Biosphere next week
"Our strawberries are grown on two different locations just under the Portuguese west coast. In the summer the temperature on the Portuguese coast are sometimes 4 or 5 degrees lower than more inland regions, and the south of Spain. This makes it possible to grow high quality strawberries along the coast from the beginning of March until mid October. The almost constant see breeze also has a specific impact on the structure, aroma and taste of the strawberries. This is why strawberries from the coastal areas are more desired than the strawberries from the Iberian coast and inland areas", says Leon.
Biosphera will supply two varieties this year; Festival and San Andres. Festival is grown north of Alentejo and close enough to the coast to profit from the special climate. Each cultivating company is surrounded by woods and bushes and receives water from its own source. Our other cultivation company is in the region Alentejo at around 1 km from the coast. The variety San andres is grown there from May."
There will also be a lot of domestic production in Belgium and Holland in the coming months. "I don't see this as a burden, but more as a challenge to supply certain customers of a constant supply, even in the summer. Local production isn't always sufficient to meet a certain demand, although this varies per country. The volume that will arrive is sufficient to fill the holes in the local market", explains the salesman.
The fruit is packaged in black trays with an air bed. The packaging is 10 x 250 grams and 125 boxes on a pallet. "To keep the transport costs as low as possible for small buyers, it's possible to mix each order with regional products from our organic assortment: with white and green asparagus at the moment, and in a few weeks with our organic stone fruit assortment. The most important product for Biosphera is the stonefruit. "We will supply this again after mid May."
Biosphera's main buyers are wholesalers and supermarkets throughout Europe. Biosphera is a group of organic Spanish growers, who have organised the sales in Spain together. From a central point in Extremadura the products are collected, sorted, packaged and sent throughout Europe.
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For more information:
Leon Hijwege
Biosphera
Tel. : +31 10 260 1974
Fax : +31 10 260 1972
Movil : +31 62 523 4501
Skype : leon.biosphera
www.biosphera.es