Last year, BelOrta started marketing organic strawberries for the first time. Whilst growing organically is now a common option in many product groups, the organic share was harder to find among strawberries. Nevertheless, grower David Hermans, who markets his strawberries through BelOrta, decided to start working on it last year after much testing. "There were quite a few challenges, but under the difficult weather conditions of last season, I think it was a successful introduction," says the grower from Flemish Herk-de-Stad. Gunther De Vadder (sales organic at BelOrta) also has confidence in the step, with David being one of two affiliated growers of organic strawberries for the cooperative.
Harvest 2024
Fruitbedrijf Hermans made a full switch to growing organically in 2022, with a large part of the land (about 9 hectares) designated for organic pome fruit. Here he grows the apple varieties Marnica and Boerenkamp, and also organic Conference pears. "My father also always had strawberries, which always suited us in terms of cultivation techniques," David explains. "It was through consultation with Gunther that we decided that we could try growing organic strawberries as well. I consciously chose a short spring cultivation in tunnels so that we would have fewer problems with pests such as thrips or the Suzuki fly."
"At the Pamel Research Center's trial garden, they were already researching strawberries. I already had some things set up there, so we decided to do a core trial. The trial went surprisingly well, so I decided to put everything into conversion," he explains. The choice of variety was important, David says. "There are not many growers who dare to make the switch to organic strawberries, but we were convinced that with the right knowledge and a good choice of varieties, which in our minds made it a viable option. We quickly came across the variety Falco. I used to have many other varieties when I was growing conventionally, where it would not have been possible to grow Falco, but here we had confidence."
Harvest 2025 at the time of the interview (Early April)
Why is it not tried more often on a large scale? "Well, the commercial uncertainty is a problem; you can't just pick the crop if you aren't getting sales. You have to work via demand when you're growing organically." He also consciously opted for cultivation with few risks. "I think that cultivation during the summer is a lot more difficult. That's when you really have to deal with thrips and Suzuki fly, and for the latter, we still don't have any biological control. It is certainly possible to cultivate in summer, but this period not only brings more pests, it also more practical challenges. The longer the cultivation lasts, the more difficult it is to keep your plants healthy. Then all kinds of things can go wrong. And don't forget: weed control has to be done completely manually. So it's more labor-intensive, especially on larger plots. Maintaining several hectares manually can be very tough."
Promo week during production peak
Commercial certainty was also a voyage of discovery for Gunther last season. "When you start working with something like this on a large scale for the first time, you have to get the hang of a few things," he explains. "The Falco variety, in particular, has a short and striking production period. It produces very large strawberries in the first, second, and half of the third production week. After that, they will begin to become smaller, closer to normal strawberries. There is also a huge peak in production in the third week. You have to imagine that Falco yields a total of around 30 tonnes in 4 to 5 weeks of production, but in that third week, you have to think of 10 tonnes. You have to find a market for that."
"That was a lot of discovery. Most organic strawberries are grown locally. Many growers see it as an intermediate crop, where organic strawberries are sold on every corner for a certain period of time. If there is already a slight overproduction, you will have a hard time because they do not go to retail, so you will just have them lying around, unsure of how to get rid of them. I do not want to say that it is a competitive market, but you cannot bring the strawberries onto the market without a plan. You cannot absorb extra volumes via the usual organic channels, which is why we started working on building certainty. For example, last year we acquired an English customer. They decided to place their promotional week exactly during that peak in the third week of production. They themselves have little production then, and Spain is also over the top, which is why they committed to a nice program from start to finish. As a result, we now have three major customers. In the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK, with, of course, a few health food stores here and there. As a result, we have been able to guarantee sales certainty for ourselves."
Looking forward with everbearers
The first season has been satisfactory for the growers. "I think we achieved good results in very difficult weather conditions, with a lot of moisture and little light. Actually, during that entire period, David had no problems with water mold. Our growers were able to produce nice volumes, and we also didn't have to complain about the prices. We have actually received only positive reactions from the customers who participated with us last year, and it sold very well with consumers," says Gunther.
This means that Gunther and David are already looking forward to the coming years with confidence. "If you have the right variety and can guarantee continuity, there is a gap in the market. We succeeded with Falco, but now we are also looking at the everbearer Verity, which we can grow until the end of September," continues Gunther. "It produces less, about 10 tonnes per month, but we are able to grow it for much longer. It is a sturdy strawberry, comparable to Falco, but slightly lighter in color, which we are cautiously testing with David. With Falco, it also took three years before we came to the market with it as an organic, so we will also first market this everbearer conventionally, after which we want to gradually see if we can expand." However, David is already enthusiastic about the new season. "With Falco, we expect to start again in the first week of May. Things are looking good. They are beautifully in bloom, and after last year, we know that we can deliver nice volumes in almost all circumstances."
This article previously appeared in edition 3, 39th year of Primeur. See www.agfprimeur.nl for this.
For more information:
David Hermans
Fruit Farm Hermans
Nieuwmolenstraat 4
3540 Herk-de-Stad, Belgium
Tel.: +32 13 55 41 04
Gunther De Vadder
BelOrta
Mechelsesteenweg 120
B-2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium
Tel.: +32 155 655 291
[email protected]
www.belorta.be