Fruithof: family business firmly rooted in sustainability

“Surely fruit from your own garden tastes much better than fruit from the supermarket”. Christian Kersten should know. Together with his family, he runs the Fruithof nursery. Under the sustainable logo ‘Natural Fruit’, they grow fruit trees and plants all year round. The secret behind the quality? Slow-growing rootstocks (grown up) in pots. And a lot of love. A look behind the scenes of this growing nursery.

Family business with a heart for consumers

Nursery Fruithof was founded at the end of the last century by pater familias Wim Kersten. He was already working in a fruit farm at the time but could no longer agree with the way things were going. “He saw that the sturdy quality trees went to fruit growing, while the skinny little trees ended up in the garden centres,” Christian explains. “He felt that consumers deserved better and therefore set up his own nursery. A real family business because my mother, brother and sister and my wife are also here among the fruit trees.” centres in their presentation. For instance, we offer stylish presentation tables and also provide advice on how to put our products in the spotlight. Customers can always rely on our two representatives for this.”

Grown in the pot

An overgrown 35-year-old pear tree or a compact young apple tree, Fruithof makes no distinction in quality. What is their secret? “We grow many trees on slow-growing rootstocks. The advantage? They thrive in the garden as well as on a terrace and even on a balcony. We put all our plants in pots, which makes it easier to dose nutrition and watering. Because we grow in pots, our trees can also be planted all year round, not just in autumn.

Because that is usually the best time to plant a tree. As the leaves fall off, the sap flow stops and all the energy flows to the roots, which then have every chance during the winter to develop strongly and deeply. Thus, by summer, they are ‘trained’ to suck up water deep from the ground.”

Natural Fruit

Total concept available all year round

Today, Fruithof grows some 150 different varieties. From various types of berries to apples, pears, plums, apricots, cherries, blackberries, raspberries and nuts. Large robust to compact trees, ornamental espaliers and shrubs ... Everything is in a pot, making the products available all year round. And that has its advantages. “For garden centres, this is an important criterion. With our total concept, they can respond to consumers’ wishes all year round. A complete range of as many as four to five hundred different products. We don’t just supply plants either, but also assist garden

One thing is certain: the fruit trees and plants grown here are in good hands. Fruithof is always looking for even better ways to grow them. More resistant, for example. And sustainability is also a guiding factor in the choices they make. From the beginning, they were a forerunner.

“We were among the first to introduce the grey pot. Meanwhile, it is almost mainstream and even mandatory in countries like the UK. These grey growing pots and trays are made from recycled plastic. In our case: household plastic. For our labels, this is partly the case.

The grey pot is not the only thing that indicates we are sustainable. In 2022, we had the Natural Fruit logo developed. This logo indicates that we grow as natural as possible. The certificates and rating of MPS-A and GLOBALG.A.P. are proof of this. We are proud our high score for crop protection. It is therefore our aim to use as few chemicals as possible.

We also research fertilisers and try to find out very precisely what they do in the soil. Based on the results, we can adjust quantities in the future or even have them completely replaced by natural agents. We also keep peat to a minimum. The content of our pot consists of 25% peat substitute.

And then there is our water system. We use an ebb and flow system. There is a layer of water on our fields. When the plants have absorbed enough water, we drain the excess water and store it in our water basins with a total capacity of almost 20,000 cubic metres. In this way, we reuse our water. Another asset? The presentation tables in the garden centres use the same system. This way, our plants do not experience any stress when they change environments.”

On knees for Floréac

About the cooperation with Floréac, Christian has only words of praise. “We have been working together for about 20 years and everything has been running smoothly since the beginning. Thanks to our large stocks, we can supply all actions on time. For the last ten years, our deliveries have fluctuated around 500 CCs a year. We can always rely on them.

One event will always stay with me. When we have a delivery with price and/or EAN stickers, we put the stickers on the labels. We do this before the fruit trees or plants are collected. On this delivery, the sticker had to be put on the pot. Consequence? The grower got down on his knees to sort it out as best he could for the customer.”

Cherry tree versus Christmas tree

Fruithof is doing well. More and more people are choosing to grow their own. Not only because supermarket fruit prices are skyrocketing, but also because fruit from your own garden is tastier and healthier. “It is also a ecological choice to grow fruit trees and plants. Just look at the success of the Dutch campaign ‘Tile out, green in.’ Such a fruit tree or plant is then ideal because it absorbs CO₂ and absorbs water. Moreover, it allows consumers to control whether they spray or not and thus grow organic fruit.

What? 150 different varieties of fruit trees and plants, 2.5 to 3 million plants per year on an area of 31 hectares

In service? Permanent crew of 30-35 people, supplemented by 40 temporary workers during the potting season

Sales market? The Netherlands and Belgium, most of the EU and Scandinavia. Mainly garden centres and chains

Reason enough for garden centres to highlight fruit plants. And I have another argument. Most consumers put larger plants in the ground in spring. While autumn is much more suitable for this. Our advice for garden centres? Encourage your customers to invest in, say, a fruit tree in autumn. Better that than a Christmas tree that ends up in the green waste after a few weeks anyway.”

Learning from each other

Finally, how does Christian see the future of the industry evolving? “This is where I need to get something off my chest. What you often hear in our sector is that we need to be more sustainable. But people forget t e look at the many efforts we are already making and the positive results we have achieved. There are so many good examples. Highlight those a bit more so that not every grower feels like they have to invent the wheel.”