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'We like to try out new things'
How do we grow our product as cleanly as possible? As a cultivation company and the support center for 'The Greenery', the Van Garderen family is constantly thinking about the market of tomorrow. Since June 1, their company has been the official face of ForwardFarming Fruit; a breeding ground for sustainability.
On a warm summer day, a group of Van Garderen employees pick red berries in Schalkwijk. They are the last rows of the early varieties. The pickers carefully place the bunches in trays. A little further on, the harvest is weighed, after which a mini shovel takes the pallets to the cooling. Thanks to the sunny summer, the quality of the berries is excellent and the harvest is several weeks ahead of schedule, say Anton and Anco van Garderen.
A few rows further on, father and son show the late varieties. Full trusses hang here too. "The color is already there, but they still have to ripen before we can pick them. The sugar content of the top and bottom berries must be about the same, only then are they sufficiently ripe. Did you know that 1 red berry contains twice as much? sugar is like in 2 strawberry? It just has a lot more acids."
They talk with great enthusiasm about the 'ins and outs' of cultivation and occasionally stop to test new varieties or with alternative control methods. "We are trying out things, such as new resources or the use of natural pest control agents," says Anton van Garderen. Anco continues: "Not everything works, but if we want to make cultivation more sustainable, you will have to try something."
Growing and processing
In addition to growing, Van Garderen is engaged in sorting, packaging and cooling all year round. Most of the fruit they process comes from other growers in the Netherlands and abroad and they do this as a support center for The Greenery cooperative. Earlier this year they opened a new cold store, equipped with environmentally friendly propane cooling. In a fully controlled climate, with low oxygen content, they can deliver berries from the Dutch harvest until late spring.
The family business has undergone significant development in recent decades. In 1981 Anton and Ria started growing small fruit. Until then, they grew vegetables and potatoes. They started with 2 hectares and expanded the cultivation to 15 hectares. Last year they made the biggest step. By purchasing a neighboring dairy farm, 19 hectares of land have recently been added.
Van Garderen was also active in trade for a while. "We did business directly with supermarkets for years. It was a good time; I love trading," he says. Now they focus on processing and logistics and are also expanding that branch. This year they expect to make more than 15 million packs.
The next generation has now found its place in the company. Anco takes care of cultivation tasks and his sister Geke is responsible for the sorting company. They work well together and they inherited a love for the fruit sector from home. Or as Anton puts it: "There are no pears under an apple tree."
Kodak
In the field of sustainability, they have already seen a lot of quality marks come and go; from Environmentally Aware Cultivation to Planet Proof. They were always one of the first to meet the toughest requirements. Still, the family sees making their company more sustainable as the biggest challenge. "Society demands that and we also want to produce as cleanly as possible ourselves. You will not soon hear us say that."
"My wife worked at Kodak, which went bankrupt because the company didn't make the switch to digital photography. It's a textbook example of what can happen if you forget to innovate," says Van Garderen. "We think there are still plenty of opportunities in the fruit sector, such as making smart use of biology and making better use of data. But that is not easy."
In recent years they have gained some experience with various green crop protection products and the use of natural pesticides. In doing so, they worked together with the initiators of ForwardFarm Fruit; The Greenery, CAF consultancy and Bayer Crop Science. "No one can do this alone, because it takes a lot of knowledge to apply those techniques as well as possible."
Purchased company
When setting up the acquired company, extensive thought was given to the biodiversity in the immediate vicinity of the orchard. For example, they have planted mixed windbreaks with alder and willow trees. "It sounds strange, but we hope that the alders will attract lice early in the year. Because the earlier there are lice, the sooner their natural enemies will develop."
The willow population consists of 3 varieties with 3 different flowering times. That too has a reason: "In this way we create a food supply for bees for as long as possible, which we need for pollination." The ForwardFarming initiative pays ample attention to both wild bees and honeybees. Among other things, there will be a beehive with a camera, so that people can follow the bees live.
Precision farming
Precision farming is another theme that is receiving a lot of attention. Before planting their new plots, Van Garderen had a soil scan performed. This shows differences in, among other things, the heaviness of the soil and the amount of organic matter in the screed. Although the heavy clay is fertile, there are differences in soil composition, which they can take into account in fertilization or liming.
A weather station will soon provide up-to-date data with which they can optimize crop protection and fertilization. "One of the plans is to start fertigating on the basis of light intensity. In this way we think that we can also create constant growing conditions in outdoor cultivation," says Anco.
The young fruit grower also wants to look for opportunities to share data with fellow growers, in order to learn from each other in this way. "There is already a lot of data, but it has been distributed and sometimes in the hands of commercial parties. That is a shame. We have therefore agreed that all measurements that we are going to do in the context of ForwardFarming Fruit will be made available to everyone."
Collaboration
The family is looking forward to the meeting function that their company will have. A reception area will soon be built on the new part of the company, which will lead to a tunnel greenhouse. People can meet here. That will be people from different backgrounds. The company will be a place to explain to policymakers and consumers what growers do and show them the steps the sector is taking to work as sustainably as possible.
In addition, it must become a breeding ground where growers and experts can exchange ideas about the use of new techniques. "We are not a normal testing ground or demo garden. That is why we have the newly established Houtig Small Fruit Center. The demos that we build are aimed at sustainability and environmentally friendly crop protection. For example, we show the effect of the Phytobac for processing residual liquids and modern spraying techniques.
The feasibility and affordability of the various measures are also an important part of the whole. "If you show what you are doing, you can also discuss the costs with the chain. Because a fruit grower can only grow sustainably if he earns money."
