Picking brought another busy peak at Fruitstation Van Arkel. "We started well on time with enough pickers, but were still caught off guard by the rapid ripening of the fruit," says Marius van Arkel. "This does raise some concerns about shelf life for the rest of the season, as the question is how long they will last. The final product is still fine, but we do have to sort out a fair number of floe and pears with fruit rot. We hadn't seen that coming four weeks before harvest, because then it looked like a growing season by the book."
© Izak Heijboer | FreshPlaza.com
Pim and Marius van Andel
Fruitstation Van Arkel has three locations, each with its own area of expertise. "You can see us as one family, with the different companies and locations working closely together. So we have the whole chain under our own control: from cultivation to cooling, from sorting to sales." The company grows its own top fruit on an area of 108 hectares, of which 17 hectares are apples and the rest are pears. "But I want to grow more apples in the future. After all, we are on really good apple land here," Marius says. The home-grown apples are sold through Vogelaar Vredehof. Van Arkel sells its pears directly, with Italy, Spain, and, to a lesser extent, France as its main export markets.
Southern Europe growth market
"We only see exports to these destinations growing, and we can boast of reliable customers. We sell around 60 to 70 percent of our pears under our own brand. For our customers, that guarantees reliability, storability, and taste. Hotter weather in southern Europe is making it increasingly difficult to grow pears. With many nights above 25 degrees, it is even becoming impossible. That offers a lot of potential for our exports." Growing Abate Fetel in the Netherlands is therefore promising, according to the grower. "The advantage is that this variety can be grown in the Netherlands and also has a well-known name."
Van Arkel finds the annual introduction of new apple varieties more problematic. "And then I'm talking about the varieties that are put on the market without any marketing plan. You know, 70 percent of the market consists of Elstar and Jonagold. So all these other varieties have to fight their way into that remaining 30 percent of the free market. We saw that with the Wellant, for example. That went well for years until a supermarket suddenly stopped selling it. Many apples are interchangeable, like the Junami, which, in my view, was a wonderful apple. Or we would have to start exporting apples again, but that's a whole other line of business."
© Izak Heijboer | FreshPlaza.com
"We buy from growers with whom we have built relationships for years and whose fruit I know what we get in," Marius says. "Pear sales are going quite well, and demand is broad. Although the price is not as high as in previous years, pears are being sold at a reasonably good price. It's important to keep up the sales pace, as many pears will have to be sold before February or March because they wear out too fast. The advantage this season is that we really have a beautiful, flavorful product. We are committed to providing consumers with ripe fruit. We don't believe in SmartFresh pears that don't ripen. For apples, sales will be a bit more difficult until March, given the large harvest. After that, there may be more opportunities for a market upturn."
"There was quite some stress around the availability of storage bins and cold storage. All the cells are completely full," Marius continued. The company itself has a cooling capacity of 13 million kilos, which it uses both for its own fruit and for third parties. Conference pears are the main business, but Van Arkel has also been growing Xenia pears since the start. "We have one fixed sorting line for Xenia and two for Conference. I am very enthusiastic about the Xenia concept. There is a small organization behind it, but sales have been good in recent years. This year is the year of truth, though, because the group has grown considerably, but I have full confidence in it."
QTee
This year, Van Arkel also pioneered the QTee summer pear in the Netherlands. "We have now completed the first harvest year, and it has gone well. For us, the early picking window is very interesting, and we had very fertile trees and incredibly tasty, fire-red pears," says Pim van Arkel, Marius's son. "However, the pears are susceptible to bird damage, which is why the entire crop is screened with nets."
© Izak Heijboer | FreshPlaza.com
Competition from increasing Polish pear cultivation is not something father and son Van Arkel fear. "It is certainly true that, unlike southern Europe, the climate in Poland is becoming more suitable for growing pears. But we have been there several times in recent years and still found the cultivation disappointing. A lot of trees may have been planted, but if they get one big frost, little remains of them either!"
Despite the challenges, the Van Arkels see the future of Dutch fruit growing with confidence. "Right now, the challenges in terms of labour and crop protection are significant. We don't see picking robots coming just yet, although it will be even easier for apples than for pears. But picking has to be done in a few weeks, and we will continue to need people for that. Each generation has to adapt again. After all, we also had years when cultivation went quite well, but hardly anything was earned. Fortunately, that has improved in recent years, but with Holland's flagship Elstar alone, the price was at or below cost for years. And we don't do charity work."
For more information:
Marius van Arkel
Fruitstation Van Arkel
Tel: +31 (0) 6 22 94 04 13
[email protected]
www.fruitstationvanarkel.nl
