Dutch greenhouse strawberries are currently enjoying tremendous demand from home and abroad. "Availability is very minimal at the moment. All rack crops are coming to an end and before the first Elsanta's from the greenhouse arrive, it will soon be week 40," says Frank van der Kwaak, responsible for sales and sourcing at Surexport Holland.
"This results in high demand for the Inspire strawberries, which we are now marketing. Prices are between €6 and €7.50. For the growers, these are great prices, provided they get the kilos. I expect demand to remain strong in the coming weeks. Even when the Elsanta strawberries come on the market, it won't be a cause for concern," Frank says. "You do currently see a switch in the market to growing Everbearers, which will change the whole crop planning. Good old Elsanta still remains the most widely grown autumn variety, but earlier varieties like Inspire and Malling Centenary are in high demand at this very period."
"All in all, the signals are green, although of course we depend on the weather whether we are going to achieve the volumes. We have had quite warm weather in recent weeks. Now the outlook is for cooler weather and cold night temperatures in particular will give strawberries a qualitative boost again. In the Netherlands, the biggest volume sales take place in the summer months and, traditionally, sales slow down towards October and November, but demand from the UK and Ireland actually increases in these months, which is where most Dutch and Belgian strawberries go in the autumn."
Jong Fruit grows strawberries across five locations with a total area of 24 hectares under glass. Since the end of last year, Spanish soft fruit giant Surexport has taken a majority stake in Jong Fruit. "We are now experiencing the synergy benefits of that, because we can hitch a ride from the Netherlands on the customers Surexport serves from Spain," Frank says. The Dutch cash strawberry acreage is showing a fairly stable trend this year. "I don't see many greenhouses being added in the Netherlands. Building a greenhouse is also quite expensive at the moment. Nevertheless, the acreage will continue to increase in the coming years because climate control in the greenhouse results in the best strawberries," Frank concludes.
For more information:
Frank van der Kwaak
Surexport
Vaartweg 183
5106 NC Dongen
Tel: +31 615151139
[email protected]
www.surexport.es