Greenfresh deliver herbs as close as possible, as far as required

The Dutch herb season has been again carefully launched with the first curly parsley, parsley, sorrel, chervil, chives and other special herb varieties. "The lovely weather has speeded up the season, but we have stuck to the sowing times. Belgian mint will come to the market earlier," said Willem Kea.

Clockwise from top left: Basil, chives, tarragon and parsley

In addition to Dutch production Greenfresh import herbs from local growers in all countries. "Our philosophy is 'as close as possible, as far as required," said Willem. "Products from close by are not always sustainable. Part of a continent like Africa have very large areas where one large scale grower can cultivate a lot of uniform product. To produce such large scale volume here you would be dependent on multiple growers and the food safety and uniformity is then harder to control and maintain."

Savory and dill

In addition to the Kenyan crop, Greenfresh has built up their cultivation projects in Africa. The herb trader has begun cultivation in Uganda. "In terms of scale these countries have lots to offer. The project is now still in its infancy but in the summer we will expand so that by next winter it will be full steam ahead with the Ugandan product. We will focus on production of Basil. The Ugandan climate is a little more tropical than Kenya and basil grows really well and, as seen by the 'basil crisis' of recent years, Uganda is a wonderful alternative."

South American cultivation

"Israel remains an important herb supplier, but natural resources are not unlimited. Access to water has become more difficult and land more expensive. In Africa it is still easy to bid for large 'lots' in one go and deliveries are more consistent," said Willem.

Above: growing chives

He views the year ahead positively. "There are more suppliers on the market which puts prices under more pressure, but we see export demand increasing. However large or small the orders are, we can meet them! There are still challenges in the offering but we remain firm in developing specialist herbs both practical and undiscovered."

For more information:
Greenfresh
Vinkenweg 50 B
2231 NT Rijnsburg
Tel: +31 7140 10806
Fax: +31 7140 10012
willemkea@greenfresh.nl
www.greenfresh.nl