Dutch family companies grow radishes year round in Italy

The only year round radish supplier in Italy has been under Dutch management for years. OrtOlanda was formed by the family companies Cornelissen and Coolbergen. These companies have been growing radishes for years in Melderslo and Oude Tonge, respectively. OrtOlanda will begin purely focusing on red, round radishes. "We are working on the quality of the OrtOlanda radishes and the improvement of the packaging in order to be able to supply directly to European supermarkets," says Willem-Jan Coolbergen.

No growth in the short-term
Ortolanda has 18.5 hectares of plastic greenhouse tunnels and another 12 hectares of the plastic greenhouse tunnels from neighboring gardeners in the winter period. "We currently grow radishes on 10 hectares of land. We are going to increase this in October so that by mid-November we will have 40 hectares for radishes. We do not expect any more growth in the short-term because the market for radishes is saturated, so if you want to grow you will have to steal customers. We are looking at long term growth through further improving the quality of the radishes by becoming more sustainable and communicating with with our customers," says the Dutch grower in Italy. Expanding outside radishes is not an option for Ortolanda. "Now more than ever we are completely focused on the sustainable growth of radishes, and we won't be able to do that if we have to give attention to other crops as well."

Willem-Jan says that so far 2014 has not been bad. "Sales were good from January to March. After that we hit a dip due to the warm spring that caused the outside production to come two to four weeks earlier than in previous years. This resulted in pretty low prices towards the end of March and all of April. From May to August we performed normally with our regular customers. We are hoping for a cold autumn so that export from Latin America will pick up starting the beginning of November with better prices.

Outdoor production sees competition from Germany
"Our most important marketing channels are supermarkets in Europe that are serious about having a trusting relationship and are willing (and can) pay the right price," says Willem-Jan. The biggest competition comes from outdoor production in Germany, says the grower. "Such a large amount is grown there for such low prices that we do not have a chance against the competition even if we can grow there in the open. However the sustainability of the radishes are not comparable with the Ortolanda radishes because they use a lot more pesticides. Due to the changing weather conditions that effect the outdoor production they are able to use more pesticides in order to still produce a good quality product."

"We are working to maximize the sustainability of our radishes. We give a lot of attention to all facets of the business. For example, this year we started with bio-fumigation. This improves the ground through use of a green manure that is specially grown to disinfect the ground, and it is made of organic matter. We want everything to be as natural as possible so the ground can become stronger against pests and diseases, and so that the radish can grow better," explains Willem-Jan.

Green manure

The future
This autumn necessary attention will be given to the succession of the business within Ortolanda. From September 15th onwards Monique Cornelissen (22) will be operating Ortolanda's Borgo Grappa location. "Her main objective will be to internally strengthen the quality of the company with respect to their personnel. This is very important because the number of staff has significantly increased in recent years. We harvest the radishes completely by hand, and then we pack them and deliver them ourselves," says Willem-Jan. "We are optimistic about the future of Ortolanda. We want to be the number one supplier of red, round radishes for European supermarkets. We see that we are making progress and that we can continue to improve."

Monique Cornelissen

For more information:
Ortolanda Agricola Soc. Agricola Arl.
Willem-Jan Coolbergen
Via Migliara 45 No 156A
04100 Borgo Grappa (LT)
Tel: +39 0773 209087
Fax: +39 0773 209317
wj@ortolanda.com
www.ortolanda.com