Blueberries cultivated outdoors at Blueberry World in Venlo are available again. "We have been getting our supply from Spain, France and indoor cultivation from the Netherlands in the last few weeks," says Harm Valckx from Blueberry World. "The indoor cultivation looks pretty good. We have been supplied with a large amount."
The Spanish season has ended and the French season will continue until the middle of July. The acreages of Dutch outdoor cultivation have risen from 30 to 40 hectare and Harm is very confident about the season. "The popularity of blueberries has been rising every year. Recently we have had almost all of the Dutch retailers on the phone, they all want to start handling Dutch blueberries." Blueberry World is now offering high end blueberries this season called 'Sweet Perfection' in 12 x 150 gram. The machines are running at full speed in the new packaging hall at the ZON Fresh Park, but the entire building will be completed by the middle of July.
Harm has a lot of confidence in Vitzon Foods activities, which will be launched the 1st of August, a cooperation between the Dutch Blueberry Collective (DBC) and Zon fruit & vegetables. "The increasing volume has also meant increases in the amount of product that is less suitable for the fresh market. It is, however, suited for further processing due to its good flavour and health benefits. From August on, it's Vitazon food's objective to focus on the processing and process quality of soft fruits to increase the product's value. You have to consider the freezing, drying and squeezing of these products," decides Harm, director of the board which handles the soft fruit division of ZON fruit & vegetables (which falls under Sunberry International, Blueberry World and the recently purchased company Heidefrucht GmbH).