Driscoll's has picked the first glasshouse strawberries of the Benelux season thanks to an advanced growing method that it has applied to its Lusa variety.
The exclusive harvest – which is boosted by the assimilation light to boost fruit growth – is seen as a 'great development' in the industry to advance the local glasshouse season.
Driscoll's revealed that it is expecting the first large volumes of glasshouse strawberries to be available in mid-March.
'Due to the use of assimilation light we can stimulate the growth of the fruit and we are able to harvest strawberries that we only planted eight weeks ago,' said Netherlands-based grower Wilbert van Oers. 'And as Driscoll's varieties are high-performing, I can still guarantee offering a quality product, even with an early harvest.'
Aside from Lusa, the company is also developing other Benelux varieties including Driscoll's Serena and Driscoll's Scarlet.
