Berries from the Low Countries have long been key to securing consistent supply throughout the UK season. This year, both the Netherlands and Belgium have faced their fair share of weather-related challenges, but each source has dealt with lower temperatures and delays to the start of the season to produce a high-quality and consistent crop.
Some 60 million kilos of berries are produced in the Netherlands every year, while Belgium grows around 30m kilos, with the extension of glasshouse production over the last three years increasing volumes and ensuring more consistent quality going forward.
But with UK production moving forward all the time, and consumer loyalty to home-grown fruit enjoying a resurgence, what does this mean for Dutch and Belgian exports to the UK?
The Dutch strawberry season has so far played out better than last year, with the earliest glasshouse fruit on the market from early January, before higher volumes came on stream two to three weeks later than usual at the end of March and early April. Supplies have been 15 per cent higher than last year, but this has not hit prices, which have been around €1 (79p) higher per kilo than in 2007.
Peter Meerkerk, sales manager at Fruit World Breda, says this season has been more in line with an average year. “This season, overall, has been decent,” he says. “Prices have been at a much better level than last year, which was a disaster.”
Exports to the UK, on the other hand, appear to have declined as UK production has continued to improve. “Five years ago, we exported around 60 per cent of our volumes to the UK, but this has now dropped to 25 per cent,” Meerkerk confirms.
The Belgian strawberry season, on the other hand, has not fared as well as the Dutch, even after a promising start. Limited volumes came on stream at the very end of February, some 10 days earlier than last year, but supply soon came to a standstill, following bad weather in March, April and May. Heavy rainfall in the first week of June hit outdoor production in Limburg.
Jan Engelen, sales manager at Veiling Hoogstraten in the north of Belgium, says the consequent drop in volume has hit the sector after a strong season last year, but prices are high. “This season is completely different to last year, when April and May were very warm and resulted in top production,” he explains. “Now, we are down on last year in volume terms.
“But demand has not been bad, and the average price is €0.70 per kilo higher than in 2007,” he adds.
The exporter, close to the Dutch border, sold 21.5mkg of fruit to a range of markets last year, but this is not likely to be repeated this year.
Imports from both the Netherlands and Belgium were higher than usual in the spring, driven by a 10-day delay to the start of the UK crop, but this tailed off as home-grown supply built to its peak.
Gerard van Loon, who manages soft fruit at The Greenery, insists the UK is still a priority market for Dutch exporters, and that the sector has continued to innovate to keep itself one step ahead of the market. “We are increasing exports to the UK year on year, and the UK is a very important market for the berry sector,” he says. “We have to make sure we continue to grow the best-quality products and the best varieties.
“It is important that we keep improving quality and produce soft fruit with fewer pesticides - growers in the Netherlands are willing to do that.”
But exports to the UK are generally declining and have been relatively low this season, says Engelen, who sees the rise of UK production and category management as their key barriers to exports from the Low Countries. “The UK was our number-one export country until local production became so important that imports were no longer necessary,” he says.
Suppliers are looking to other European markets, such as Germany, Scandinavia and eastern Europe, in order to spread their volumes more evenly, but the majority insist the UK is still an attractive market. The next step for Dutch soft-fruit growers is to concentrate on filling the gaps in UK production, and to build on exports before and after the main domestic season, in order to maintain momentum.
UK importers have shied away from bringing in Dutch and Belgian fruit when there is home-grown product available, in line with increasing consumer demand for British fruit. Nick Marston, managing director of Berry Gardens, stopped importing Dutch and Belgian fruit two weeks ago, switching to UK supply as it geared up for its peak. “There is a place for Dutch, and to a lesser extent Belgian, supply in late April and May, because their glasshouse production is first class,” he says. “Northern European berries still have a place in the autumn and, in some cases, even in the main UK season. But UK production has increased, especially since it moved to 100 per cent tunnel production.
“The Dutch main season, on the other hand, is still mostly grown outdoors, so quality is less reliable.
“But there are opportunities for Dutch and Belgian growers supplying the UK market, especially when it comes to specialist growing techniques or glasshouse production.”
Dutch arm Berry Gardens BV supplies mainly the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, but premium varieties have been produced in the Low Countries for UK customers. “We have had some success importing Jubilee strawberries, grown in commercial quantities in the Netherlands for the first time this year,” Marston says. “We are also growing the Estrella golden raspberry in Belgium, which will be imported from late May to October.
“Camarillo, a high-quality everbearer, and El Dorado, a June everbearer that comes on stream two weeks earlier than Elsanta, as well as 900 tonnes of Maravilla raspberries, are also being grown for us in the Netherlands.”
The production of premium varieties for the UK market in Dutch, and to some extent Belgian, glasshouses has really caught on as indoor growing techniques have improved. The Greenery, for example, produces top-quality AVA strawberries in the Netherlands for Scotland-based Angus Soft Fruits, to achieve availability from March to November.
But home-grown fruit has fast become the top priority for UK-based suppliers, as retailers ask for more high-quality British fruit.
Steve Sadler, account manager at UK supplier AMS Ltd, says home-grown fruit is his first choice when it is available. “If a customer is pushing us for higher volumes, we would import from the Netherlands and Belgium for top-ups,” he says. “But there has not been a real dip in UK production this year and all the fruit is being sold.
“The majority of our customers would like UK strawberries and, over the last two or three years in particular, this demand has really taken off. There has been a significant change in what retailers want to put on the shelves, with almost all preferring UK fruit when it is available - any other fruit, not just from the Netherlands and Belgium, is just a contingency.”
But the loyalty that UK suppliers and consumers have shown for home-grown fruit does not mean that there are no opportunities for Dutch and Belgian exporters.
Harm Vlackx, director of the Dutch Blueberry Collective, says the opportunities for blueberry growers exporting to the UK have increased in line with growing demand for the superfruit. The producer, which has grown blueberries in the southern part of the Netherlands for more than 30 years, sends some 40-50 per cent of its crop to the UK each year.
Glasshouse production came on stream from April 15, but met low prices as it competed with alternative imports from Spain. The switch to the outdoor crop four weeks ago saw prices edge upwards, but this is only expected to last until the German and Polish offer gets going in 10 days.
Duke and Bluecrop make up the early volumes, while varieties such as Elliot follow. The total crop is expected to reach 2mkg this season.
“The majority of Dutch blueberry production is in the south, where we have had generally good weather compared to the rest of the country - we had enough rain in May and June, so the quality of the crop looks good,” says Vlackx.
“In the 30 years since I started growing blueberries, they have become more and more popular, especially in the last few years,” he adds. “But the fruit is not as popular in the Netherlands and Germany as it is in the UK, so that is why it forms our major market. We are increasing blueberry production by about 10 per cent each year.”
The Greenery has extended its blueberry production by 100 hectares this year, up to 600ha, but full production will not be reached for two years.
The Benelux countries are well known for their advances in glasshouse production and, in recent years, there has increasingly been a switch from outdoor production to indoor growing methods.
Glasshouse production in the Netherlands in spread throughout the country, though Brabant and Limburg are key growing areas, while in Belgium, the most important production sites are concentrated in De Kempen, around Hoogstraten.
Outdoor production is concentrated in similar areas, with 80 per cent of Dutch production based in Brabant, while Belgian volumes are focused in the area around Hoogstraten and in Limburg, around Borgloon.
A wide range of lines, from strawberries and raspberries to blueberries, blackberries and redcurrants, make up the Benelux offer. The bulk of the varieties grown in the Low Countries have remained unchanged in recent years, with Elsanta making up the majority of strawberry production, followed by Sonata - which has increased in production area by 50 per cent - and Dar Select in Belgium, while Tulameen is the most popular raspberry, followed by Sugana in Belgium.
“The main variety is still Elsanta because it is the best variety for our climate and system, especially when you consider that 80 per cent of our total production is export - our strawberries need to be strong and Elsanta is the best variety for transport,” says Engelen. “We also work with other varieties for different growing systems, like Sonata and Clery for early production in glasshouses, and Charlotte, Figaro and Malling Pearl for summer production.”
Both countries are experiencing labour shortages, as workers from eastern Europe continue to shy away from agricultural work as their own economies improve, but the situation does not appear to be as bad as in the UK, where the shortfall of workers is threatening to undermine peaks in production.
Exporters agree the best way forward for the Dutch and Belgian soft-fruit industries is to continue to achieve higher volumes and better quality, in order to remain the first choice for UK importers before and after their domestic season, and to maintain consistency of supply.
No comments yet