Challenges abound, and at the 21st Strawberry Day, there was no shying away from naming them. Yet, things are not looking too bad at all for strawberry growers. Indeed, if you look closely at the figures and study the market, you will see that strawberry growers are in a good position here and, unlike in some other châteaux, do not really have much to fear from distant foreign competition.
Those positive future prospects were quickly shared in the plenary program on Wednesday morning. Adri Bom-Lemstra kicked off the exhibition day on behalf of Glastuinbouw Nederland. In her talk, the challenges (energy, crop protection, labor) all came up.
Labor determines at least 45% of the cost price of soft fruit, yet Adri Bom-Lemstra sees plant health as the biggest challenge
For instance, 2025 is the year when growers will face several new tax measures. CO2 and energy will become more expensive as a result. "I haven't come across anyone yet who says, 'It's not going to be too bad,'" he says. The measures are going to hurt growers, as reiterated in two sessions full of rock-hard figures late last year.
The president says it is "almost daily work" to ensure there are no "extra-national headlines" on top of policies already set in Europe. More clarity is expected this spring on the impending addition of the entire greenhouse horticulture sector to the ETS-2 emissions trading scheme.
ETS-2 would be yet another incentive to move growers towards climate neutrality, or critics say, to drive growers out of the country. On climate neutrality, which the sector aims for by 2040, Bom-Lemstra acknowledged that "it is becoming increasingly difficult" because of grid congestion, among other things.
Just because something is difficult, however, does not mean that the sector does not keep going for it in full force. Yes, smaller, solitary soft fruit growers, in particular, will wonder whether they can still make it to that distant climate-neutral future, but there are plenty of growers left who do see a future, provided, of course, that steps continue to be taken.
That requires innovation. Another political point here: The Hague is cutting back heavily on research and innovation. This also affects the horticultural sector. Bom-Lemstra sees 'bottlenecks looming' here but also believes that the sector must keep working on new innovations and research because that is 'desperately needed to maintain the right to exist in the Netherlands'.
Plant health is the biggest challenge
However, the biggest challenge is not energy, but plant health, crop protection, or in the social debate, 'poison'. Whereas on the topic of energy, the necessary knowledge and solutions are available, in the area of plant health, there is 'more ambiguity'. That makes it more difficult, acknowledges Bom-Lemstra. 
Jan van Genderen of Royal Berry shared his vision
Breaking the trend of declining productions
Indeed, strawberry production has not been increasing in recent years. In fact, they are declining. Growers want to break that trend, as became clear later during various presentations, including those from growers such as Jan van Genderen and Peter van Hulten, on stage. Among other things, the sector sees opportunities in growing everbearers, and there are also developments with growing strawberries from seed. Not new, but with the entry of new parties, it is getting extra attention.
Peter van Hulten, together with Matthijs Jasperse of Florpartners, talked about developments at Van der Avoird Trayplant.
True to tradition, GroentenFruit Huis, represented by figures man Wilco van den Berg, shared market figures. As in previous years, the market is looking for ways to boost consumption in the 18-35 age group. Also, most sales take place between May and July. Beyond that, sales are hardly growing, if at all.
Wilco van den Berg sees growth opportunities for the strawberry market
The sector is positive about an upcoming promotional campaign, with EU funding. The sector has found the pot of money in Brussels, after previously, according to Mark de Jong of ZLTO, mainly Southern European countries were able to promote their products well with subsidy money. "We can do the same," is the thought. The campaign targets the 18-35 age group.
Mark de Jong of ZLTO talked about the promotional campaign that is coming up
Cindy van Rijswick of Rabobank questioned whether all the promotional efforts are really going to increase volumes. In her presentation with figures and statistics, she draws the conclusion "that keeping your sales stable is already positive." Compared to other fruits, however, strawberries are not doing so badly at all. In Germany, Cindy sees a similar development.
Rabobank's Cindy van Rijswick is positive about the position of strawberry growers in an international playing field
The bank's researcher is positive about the market opportunities for growers here. There is little or no competition from non-European countries, for example, unlike other greenhouse crops. "It's not easy, but if it was easy, anyone could do it," he says. What will definitely help the sector is that we are leading the way here in the switch from outdoor cultivation to covered cultivation. In terms of plant health and climate challenges, among others, and in terms of product availability, this is a strong asset.
Niek Vlemminx of Aigro and Joost Meijer of Hortiworld at an autonomous driving chassis with automation on it to plot biology in the crop.
Catching up and presentations
In between the presentations, about 100 exhibitors could be found in the exhibition hall. There were not a lot of novelties on the stands, but in the crop protection sector, for instance, this is due to slow licensing, while the harvest robot is also still some time away. With UV-C and automation for the release of biological control agents, however, a good step has been taken successfully.
Wilbert Vervoort and Tim Rijkers of Smits at a Riverscreen, a filter for coarse pollution in water basins. The technology was brought over from North America.
With a total of 800 attendees during the day, the fair, organized by Delphy, ZLTO, and Glastuinbouw Nederland, turned out to be another successful New Year's reception, which did present a challenge for those who wanted to hear all the presentations and also wanted to speak to everyone. But hey, challenges are there to be solved, and if not, there is day two today, with some of the exhibitors swapping places with more internationally oriented parties and some more international visitors also expected. Some 30 international visitors, for the first time, also followed the presentation program on day one, thanks to an interpreter. Gaining knowledge from the heart of the soft fruit sector, that's an excellent thing to do these days in Den Bosch.
A complete (photo) report of the two days of the fair will follow tomorrow.