Starting signal for tomatoes and peppers from Germany

As soon as spring arrives, producer cooperative Landgard brings the first fresh German summer vegetables to the table: these days, the harvest of tomatoes and peppers from protected German cultivation is really picking up speed. "Just in time for the grill, the aromatic tomatoes and crunchy peppers from our Northern and Western German member companies are here," says Labinot Elshani, chief representative of the fruit and vegetables division of Landgard eG.

Cherry-Roma tomatoes and Minicherries are kicking things off
At the kick-off of the tomato and pepper season, Landgard was able to market the first West German cherry tomatoes of the "Sweetelle" greenhouse cultivated variety in mid-March. Before Easter, the first "Juanita" Minicherry tomatoes followed, in turn followed by the vine tomatoes "Lyterno", the cherry tomatoes "Brioso", the "Ardiles" and the "Romanella" tomatoes in weeks 14 and 15. From this week on, the first local peppers from Landgard growers will be harvested as well. In general, in the western parts, the products are usually harvested one or two weeks earlier than in northern Germany.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, the member companies of Landgard have some 95 hectares under glass with the most modern production methods, where the grow tomatoes and peppers, all year round if customers do so desire. This is made possible by modern LED lighting technology, with which, for example, cherry tomatoes of the "Brioso" variety and "Aromatica" Romarispen can also be harvested in winter. "As the tomatoes and peppers in modern greenhouses grow on a gutter system, the harvest is mainly dependent on the number of light hours and the time of planting," explains Labinot Elshani. "Temperature, nutrients and water are precisely controlled by the gardeners. Therefore, the crops are not subject to the usual fluctuations in the field and we expect for this season with good qualities and tasty products. Thanks to state-of-the-art cultivation technology, we can guarantee our trading partners optimum supply of first-class products even in unfavorable weather conditions and our quality promise of ‘Deutschland schmeckt’."

In 2017 alone, the grower's cooperative marketed more than 34,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes and peppers - enough to supply all the residents of Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt am Main with the two popular fresh summer vegetables for a whole year.

For more information:
www.landgard.de