Junami proves there's market for small apples

Han Fleuren is the owner of Boomkwekerij (Tree Nursery) Fleuren in Baarlo, the Netherlands. Right before he left for the Ukraine to give a presentation on the future of the fruit market, Inova Fruit spoke with him.

Boomkwekerij Fleuren has been working with Junami trees since the beginning. In 2001 they started with a few pilot companies. Hans was interested in the concept of Inova Fruit because he wanted to produce an apple for each flavor profile there is, in this way he could serve all the different taste preferences, "Junami is just good. This apple does not have the most extraordinary taste, but it does have a fresh, stable flavor. I eat a lot of Junami apples myself."

Han says that Junami is a very interesting apple because there is a trend in the market right now for smaller apples, especially in England, "Small is the new big. The small sizes yield the most in England," says Han Fleuren. In terms of 'carcass balance' the Junami apple does well, "Carcass balance is a standard concept: everyone wants the steak, but what do you do with the rest of the cow. You also have to try to sell the skin. The ones who can get the most value out of the product are the ones who have the most going for them." According to Han Fleuren, Junami is proof that there is a market for smaller apples as well.

Han Fleuren was asked to give a lecture on the future of fruit production. As an arborist he has learned to always look ahead. For a fruit grower, innovations only come after 2 years, and only after 5 years will there be new fruit on the trees. His company also keeps up with trends in other parts of the world, such as: Moldova, Azerbaijan, India, China, New Zealand and Australia. He does this because he knows that appearance- and taste preferences differ everywhere.

According to Han Fleuren, considerable progress has been made in the fruit growing sector due to modern techniques. He gives a few examples, including autonomous driving. This gives the fruit grower more time for other things. It is also possible to scan tress with drones for use in earlier detection of tree diseases. There are also new techniques to tag trees so that you can see how much a tree produces or if it has been fully fertilized. Han also talks about using a robot for plucking and about using LED lights for growing vegetables, "That is already happening in Dubai, where cultivation takes place in a high-rise or in the dark, under controlled conditions. Who knows, maybe this can also work with fruit trees. In short, there are still plenty of opportunities (and challenges) in the sector."

Source: Inova Fruit newsletter