Paul Mol and his wife Rita Demaré have been active in their horticulture company in Hooglede since 1988. Rita has been less active in the company since last year, as she has several other responsibilities. Rita is a politician and has been mayor of Hooglede since 2013. She is also president of the REO Veiling and the VBT. However, before these events she did a lot of work in the horticulture company. Even now she is still very involved in its doings, and speaks of the developments and growth in recent years.
Rita Demaré with the alternative lettuce varieties
"The company that we took over from Paul's parents was a mixed livestock business. We made the decision to switch completely to vegetables. We grew and invested in various greenhouses. Eventually we reached the point where we had reached the optimal ratio between open ground and greenhouse cultivation. We grew greenhouse lettuce in greenhouses and alternative lettuce varieties in the open ground. These are Lollo Rosso, Lollo Bionda, Red Oakleaf and Green Oakleaf. We also grow fennel in the open ground from July to October, and we fill in the rest with maize. The area for open ground is 3.5 hectares and 12,000 m2 for the greenhouses. We can 'play around' a bit with these two cultivations and this means there's always variety."
Getting the most out of it
Rita laughs as she says that she never wanted to be a grower when she was younger. "My parents are from a similar company and I didn't want to do the same. I worked with the company full time since the beginning, but I wanted to organise and plan, just implementing wasn't for me. In 2008 there was a turning point in our company: we had to choose between moving, or remaining at this location with its limits. Eventually we chose to stay, for a number of reasons. We want to get the most out of this and added a foil greenhouse."
Paul Mol in the greenhouse with greenhouse lettuce
The president of the REO Veiling finds it striking that the lettuce supply has decreased in recent years. "It just so happens that this is a year in which more lettuce is harvested, but there is systematically less lettuce. This is why we opted for the alternative lettuce varieties. That has been a learning process, in which we realised that you can't grow as much as you like. And red lettuce also has to be grown along with the light. It is a lot different from regular greenhouse lettuce. An advantage of alternative lettuce is that you're spreading the risk, but it is a greater cultivation effort."
Daily fresh lettuce
The REO-Veiling recently introduced a project in which the cold chain is optimally controlled and the lettuce is delivered daily fresh. "We and 11 other growers stepped in and are now working on the re-evaluation of lettuce together. Normally lettuce is harvested and is in the shop a day later, but with this new concept it's there the same day. The price difference with the 'regular' lettuce isn't always there, but there was a 10 cent difference once, and that is pretty good."
Fine Fleur
"To put this lettuce in the spotlight we have been developing a new label to show people that this product is daily fresh. The shelf life is longer and people who buy this want to set themselves apart with the best and freshest products. We want to market them under the brand 'Fine Fleur', this is the REO-Veiling's brand which defines itself with excellent quality or specific characteristics. There are multiple products in the brand. We want to give the Fine Fleur brand a boost. With this, many people can define themselves with top products."
"To put this lettuce in the spotlight we have been developing a new label to show people that this product is daily fresh. The shelf life is longer and people who buy this want to set themselves apart with the best and freshest products. We want to market them under the brand 'Fine Fleur', this is the REO-Veiling's brand which defines itself with excellent quality or specific characteristics. There are multiple products in the brand. We want to give the Fine Fleur brand a boost. With this, many people can define themselves with top products."
Do you want to know more about Rita Demaré and how she combines and performs her responsibilities as president of the REO-Veiling, president of the VBT AND mayor? Read all about it in Primeur's Summer edition in the AGF star section.
