Currently, 72 pickers are bringing in the pear crop at Van Haaften Fruit in the Netherlands. "The fruit has top quality, but the volumes are lacking," says Peter van Haaften, who describes the harvest as the year's climax for every grower.
The Van Haaften family's fourth generation.
Van Haaften Fruit is run by brothers Gertjan, Peter, and Dinand van Haaften. The company has around 100 hectares under top fruit and markets some 30 growers' harvests. Last week, they took a new cold store with a 2,000-ton capacity into use.
"The first two Van Haaftens of the next generation have joined the business, which is why we made this investment. We're ready for the future," explains Peter.
He is optimistic about the new pear season. "It's always dangerous when the media talks about expensive fruit, but everything this season points to sales that should go well. That still has to happen, though. Demand is excellent for the time of year. That will drop off somewhat in the next two weeks; all our neighboring countries are also harvesting."
Conference pears.
"Graded pear prices are around €0.90, but nice large pears can fetch more than one euro," says Van Haaften. "The outlook for apples is also much better than last year. Summer conditions have been considerably better; hopefully, we can all be patient and not overfeed the market. That's entirely unnecessary this year. Apart from some scab, this year's apples are excellent quality."
Beurré Alexander Lucas pears.
Van Haaften Fruit usually has plenty of Conference pears and the new Elstar apple variations. "The top fruit classics, but we love a good Elstar. Hopefully, Dutch supermarkets will fully promote local crops again," Peter concludes.
Conference pears and Red Jonaprince apples.
For more information:
Van Haaften Fruit
26 Bommelweg
4014 PW, Wadenoijen, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 344 662 211
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.vanhaaftenfruit.nl