It is a special sight in the reception area of the Luik Natie Group; Belgian-grown bananas have recently been put on display there. "Everyone told us that the trees would never bear fruit, but now there are about a dozen bunches. A nice calling card for a company that processes 60,000 tonnes of bananas a year," says Dave Van Bulck, of the company from Kallo.
The story actually originated at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. "Last February, two banana plants were raffled there," Dave continues. "Eventually, at the end of the event, one of the trees ended up at Luik Natie. We thought it would be a nice idea to put it in the reception area. For a company that is so active in bananas, it was a nice way to show that we have now really made the expertise our own."
"People said the tree would never bear fruit. But then we started noticing it was making more and more leaves. It went on and on," he says. "And at one point, one of our employees walked by and noticed that it wasn't just more leaves, but something else. A kind of maroon-coloured 'fruit'. This started to open up like a flower, and underneath it,we actually found bananas. That did make us laugh for a while. Steven [Beuselinck] then asked around, asking whether we could ever pick them. Someone told him we had to wait for between 85 and 110 days; then we should be able to pick them."
Champagne and bananas
Whether growing bananas is difficult? "Please, let's not say we are growers now," laughs Dave. "But I have to say that this has actually been quite easy. We put the tree in our reception area, where temperatures are nice and there is plenty of sunlight. Then we made sure it got enough water and that's it. And now we are very curious to see what the bananas will eventually look like. Will they really ripen? Will they be edible? And will they have the taste we know? For now at least, bunches keep coming, and they are growing beautifully."
Whether there will be expansion in productions after the success of this tree, Dave doesn't dare say yet. "We now all have small shoots in the pot, so possibly we can see if we can put more down. Then, in a few years, there will be full production from the halls of Luik Natie. Only then we might have to find another place for it," Dave muses.
"No, no more jokes. For now, it's a very nice attraction. Everyone is looking at it. Besides, we're looking forward to the first pick, because a customer said at the start there would never be any bananas. If there were, he would treat us to champagne. So who knows, we might soon have a champagne breakfast with bananas."
For more information:
Dave Van Bulck
Luik Natie
Kruipin port 1145
9130 Kallo - Belgium
+32 3 561 63 00
[email protected]
www.luiknatie.be