The sweetcorn season is currently in full swing for Otjens Sweetcorn. "We started a bit later, unfortunately, but we are now in the fifth week. The first weeks were a bit quieter, but by now we have normal volumes again and we can still say that there is a nice demand," says Wout Otjens of Otjens Sweetcorn, which, in addition to the traditional Dutch season, is now focusing more and more on vacuum maize to provide year-round Dutch product.
Whereas spring has caused problems for many fruits and vegetables, it's no different for sweetcorn. "Due to the very wet weather conditions in the first months of the year, we started about three weeks later, which is unfortunate. Moreover, the first few weeks, after we started, were also very quiet because there was not much volume available yet. We also always advance by fleece, but that didn't quite work out the way we envisaged this year either. It's always a shame when you put time and effort into it, but doesn't turn out as you'd hoped."
"In the meantime, however, we can say that we are in full swing with fine volumes. And then you quickly forget those first few weeks," laughs Wout. "After all, the demand has been there from the start. Actually in the first weeks, when we didn't have the volume yet, but now that the volume is there, we can serve our customers nicely. Every now and then we even get calls from some new customers. You always try to pick those up then, but it's not always feasible. It is good, because you can see that the popularity of sweetcorn is growing. Every year there are more sales per head in the Netherlands and people are getting more and more familiar with it. Of course, it is also a wonderful product, but people just need to know what they can do with it. Then once they have come into contact with it, they see the possibilities."
Peak period
With the sun still high in the sky, now also comes the peak of the season for Otjens Sweetcorn. "Those four weeks. The last weeks of August and the first weeks of September traditionally come the peak of our harvest. That's when we get most of the product from the field and, given the good demand, there are also strong sales. The later start to the season has also shifted the peak slightly, but we now have a couple of busy weeks ahead of us." The season normally runs for Wout next until early/mid-October. "So there again, given the shifted season, it could be until the end of October this time. However, we are seeing again in the last few weeks that the weather has been very groovy, which means that everything could come together again. In fact, we had initially expected some gaps in the harvest as well, but due to the weather conditions, it has all pulled together again. All in all, we can definitely be positive anyway."
The grower supplies its sweetcorn mainly to the domestic market. "We also have a little bit of exports, but that shouldn't really have a name. It's also difficult, because every country has its own producers. Within the Dutch market, on the other hand, we have built up a nice spread of customers. That's also our goal. If things slow down at retail, you want to be able to sell more to wholesalers. You want to have that spread. After all, in fresh produce you are dependent on nature, so if you have more available at one moment, you also want to be able to accelerate somewhere and if there is less available, we can apply the brakes."
Vacuum maize
So the rush is coming in the next few weeks for Otjens Sweetcorn, but even after that, the company remains busy supplying its sweetcorn, as Wout sees increasing interest in its vacuum sweetcorn. "Normally people import outside the Dutch season, but I'm not a fan of that," he explains. "We therefore said a while ago: 'We are going to cook and vacuum our own sweetcorn, so we can start supplying Dutch sweetcorn year-round'. It's a process that you already see a bit more in organic, but in conventional many opt for imports, while we think there are also great opportunities with a Dutch alternative."
"I also enjoy doing it more than importing," Wout continues. "We don't supply all our customers with the sweet corn yet, but we have now set up nice programmes with a number of customers and I'm now expanding that. It's a process you have to master first, but we have that well in place now. This is how we are expanding our customers. In the end, of course, you can't transfer all your customers right away, because you harvest once and then have to do with it until next year. Then I will have to have more stock, but we are also looking at that expansion. It is a steady process and you shouldn't get ahead of yourself, but it is great that we can now supply Dutch sweetcorn all year round. Besides, it is your own product that you sell, which you have more control over and can guarantee the quality. It's very nice to see that it's catching on."
For more information:
Wout Otjens
Otjens Sweetcorn
Zundertseweg 78
4876 NL Etten-Leur
06 57 83 84 86
[email protected]
www.otjens-suikermais.nl