BelOrta: “More and more soft fruit is being grown under shelter”

BFV growers supply soft fruit from different cultivation systems

“We can, thus, extend the season well beyond the picking period.” The cooperative sees more opportunities in spreading the risk, by flattening the market peaks, than in greenhouse cultivation. “With the product spread well over several months, grower prices are guaranteed.” That is possible. You can sell some soft fruit at auction and some through a pool system. “That works very well; because we have fixed price agreements that provide growers with a measure of certainty. Those agreements let us sharply lower the peak period, so there’s no pressure on auction prices.”

ENERGY COSTS

Another reason for not growing soft fruit under glass, says Diether, is the rising energy costs. “Heating costs skyrocketed last year, which will become even more problematic. During strawberries’ autumn greenhouse cultivation - from September to December 2021 - not everyone heated as much as they should.” He says other cooperatives noticed this, too, as it affected the strawberries’ quality and colour. “As a result, their storage and shelf life are also much reduced, which causes problems. If you do not heat greenhouses regularly, the fruits colour less well and lose quality.”

Incidentally, strawberries are the only small fruit BFV’s members grow under glass. Since these red fruits’ sales are more spread out, it is more feasible to invest in greenhouse cultivation. Diether says, with the 500 tons of greenhouse strawberries the cooperative sells, the focus is on the early season and later, from September to December. “You can build a greenhouse for that, unlike for other soft fruits with their sales peaks. You can market greenhouse strawberries until the start of the tunnel season, which makes that product an interesting one. And you rarely have an oversupply.” BFV’s number of greenhouses also contributes to a moderate supply, concludes Diether

diether.everaerts@bfv.be

“We want to be in the picture with consumers as quickly and long as possible,” says Miguel Demaeght, Fruit Sales Manager Fruit at BelOrta, referring to soft fruit greenhouse cultivation. He sees similarities with strawberries for raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, and gooseberries. “Thanks to greenhouse cultivation, we can open the Belgian strawberry season on March 9, and the other cultivation systems seamlessly connect to that. This role is reserved for greenhouse cultivation for all other types of soft fruit too. And we’ll be closing the season with greenhouse-grown strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.” Miguel notes that generally, covered - not specifically under glass - soft fruit cultivation is on the rise.

“Some kind of crop protection provides harvest certainty and guarantees an income.″ Soft fruit cultivation has been professionalizing over the past 20 years; sometimes growing from a side business into a full time, professional one. “Our growers are no longer willing to risk fully exposing their products to Mother Nature’s fickleness.” Nowadays, almost all soft fruit marketed via BelOrta has a ‘roof’ over its head. “That ‘roof’ can be glass, fully sealed plastic, or rain canopies. In addition to blueberries, we have a small area of open field redcurrant and gooseberry plants. We’re seeing more and more of that protection, especially with redcurrants, raspberries, and blackberries.”

MARKET CONDITIONS

That ‘roof’ for those soft fruits often not being glass, is something Miguel attributes to the quite narrow market conditions. “There’s a certain demand for greenhouse-grown soft fruit. Overseas suppliers and Belgian greenhouse-grown soft fruit are very often present on the market simultaneously. That also partly determines market opportunities and the feasibility of certain growing systems. Overseas suppliers are doing their best to extend their presence more and more.”

“Fortunately, we successfully persuaded quite a few Belgian customers to switch to local soft fruits as quickly as possible.