BRASSICA
MAGAZINE
6
BLINDNESS IN BROCCOLI
10
BEHIND THE SCENES
OF HAK’S SUPPLY CHAIN
ROBUST VARIETIES
FOR EVERY CLIMATE
AND EVERY NEED
BRASSICA
INNOVATIONS
30
SIMON NAYLOR,
FROM LINCOLNSHIRE TO INDONESIA
BRASSICA
MAGAZINE
CONTENTS
3 RESPONDING TO TRENDS
4 KOHLRABI, WORLD FAMOUS
6
IN GERMANY
BLINDNESS IS MORE THAN JUST
SENSITIVITY TO COLD
8 CHINESE CABBAGE:
A HARD CROP TO GROW
24
ROBUST VARIETIES FOR EVERY
CLIMATE AND EVERY NEED
10 BEHIND THE SCENES OF
HAK’S SUPPLY CHAIN
12 THE BARGE HAD TO BE LOADED
BY NINE
14 ARE BRUSSELS SPROUTS ON THE
VERGE OF A BREAKTHROUGH?
16 POLISH MARKET TRENDS: WHITE
CABBAGE MAKES WAY FOR KALE
18 SPAIN GROWS BRASSICAS MAINLY
FOR EXPORT
19 SAVOY CABBAGE: A CLASSIC FRENCH
PRODUCT
32
NEW BRASSICAS HIT THE MARKET
20 GLK FOODS: SAUERKRAUT TO SUIT
EVERY TASTE
22 DETAILS CAN MAKE OR BREAK
A GROWER’S YIELD
26 TB&S: SUCCESS ALL YEAR WITH
POINTED CABBAGE
This Brassica Magazine
Editorial
Writers
Design
is published by
Robert Schilder
Theo Brakeboer
Design in Beeld
Bejo Zaden B.V.
Joris Ursem
Jeroen Vissers
PO Box 50
Madelon Moen
Robert Schilder
Layout
1749 ZH Warmenhuizen
Corina Huiberts
JEEN
JEEN
The Netherlands
T: 0226 396 162
Printed by
F: 0226 393 504
PrintX.nl
E: [email protected]
W: www.bejo.nl
28 STORAGE: COOLING ON THE EDGE
FOR THE BEST RESULTS
30 SIMON NAYLOR GROWS CABBAGE
IN ENGLAND – AND ASIA
34 KALE: FROM UNKNOWN AND
UNLOVED TO HIP AND TRENDY
36 BAKKERBIO: JAN WILLEM BAKKER
NURTURES THE SOIL
No rights can be derived from the information given in this Brassica Magazine.
Articles or parts there of may be used only with the express permission of Bejo Zaden B.V.
and with proper acknowledgement.
2
38 AS LONG AS I CAN STILL WALK,
I’LL GROW BROCCOLI
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
EDITOR’S LETTER
2017
RESPONDING TO TRENDS
Welcome to the first edition of Brassica Magazine. It’s packed with useful and thought-provoking information
about
n
brassica crops, markets and opportunities all over the world. We hope the articles here will inspire you
and fill you with enthusiasm for the crops of the future. ‘Brassica’ is the Latin word for cabbage. Cabbages of all
types are renowned as tasty, healthy foods and they’re featuring more and more prominently in health magazines,
in diet books, and online. Many are regularly to be found on lists of the healthiest vegetables.
Kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, pointed cabbage and
cauliflower are becoming increasingly popular around
the world. How do you profit from this trend as a grower
or dealer? Show the general public what you do and
how you do it. That will inspire consumers to buy your
products. Organising an open day or inviting schools to
visit your business can help you to win consumers’ trust.
New media tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
offer unprecedented opportunities for communicating
about your product. Tell your followers about the
day-to-day goings-on at your business. Nobody can
talk about your product as inspiringly and passionately
as you can. And why wouldn’t you? Cabbage is a good,
honest, healthy food.
Reliability is of paramount importance – not only for you
as a grower, processor or exporter but for us as a breeder
and seed supplier. Bejo constantly works to further
develop its range of varieties, its seed technology and
its expertise. Our clients, likewise, are always looking
out for improvements, innovations, new markets and
market segments. To enable themselves to supply produce year-round, Dutch companies are setting up operations in places like Spain, Portugal and North Africa.
They also grow produce there for the local market.
Increasingly, quality takes precedence over quantity.
That’s as true for cabbage as it is for anything else.
Focusing on quality is not only good for the cabbage’s
appearance but also for the grower/processor’s bottom
line. High-quality products are easier to sell, and they
help to open up new markets. The Bejo team is keen to
support you in growing and supplying dependable varieties,
and to act as a sparring partner to help you make the right
decisions. We always aim to go the extra mile and help
you to develop new markets, ideas and concepts.
Our open days, held every year in late September at our
headquarters in Warmenhuizen, the Netherlands, are
a great way to gain inspiration and exchange knowledge.
You can see our entire range of seeds, plus inspiring displays and test gardens, and catch up with colleagues from
around the world. Of course, your local representative
will be on hand to take you through the fields.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Brassica Magazine and I
wish you the best of luck in preparing for the new season
and plenty of success with your inspiring business!
Benelux sales team
ROBERT SCHILDER
3
KOHLRABI:
CABBAGE’S LITTLEKNOWN COUSIN?
NOT IN GERMANY
Kohlrabi may only be modestly popular in your
country, but they love it in Germany. We went over the
border to speak with the German grower Hubertus
Scheele, who produces this attractive, tasty crop.
4
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
GERMANY
<
Upright leaves are desirable in kohlrabi, say grower
Hubertus Scheele (right) and Bejo rep Markus Saphörster.
Believe it or not, kohlrabi, the
light green field vegetable with
the shape like a flattened ball,
is one of the top three healthy
snacks German kids take to
school, along with apples and
carrots. In what form? In sticks
their parents cut fresh from the
bulb in the morning. Ready-cut
kohlrabi sticks – the kind of
convenience product Dutch
consumers would look for –
aren't available in German
supermarkets. “And that’s a
good thing,” Hubertus Scheele
says. “If they were, how would
we distinguish our product as
a grower?”
It’s an interesting point, and
one that makes particular sense
in Germany, where shoppers
judge vegetables on how natural
they look, which in the case of
kohlrabi has to do partly with
the quality of the leaves. “The
leaves should stand straight
upright, even in the store,”
Scheele says. “That's an important criterion for consumers.
But it's important for us too,
because the farther apart the
leaves stand, the harder it is to
grab them in one hand so you
can lift the bulb out of the soil
and cut it off.”
HIGH YIELD
About 2,000ha of kohlrabi is
grown every year in Germany,
about 400ha of that in the state
of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Scheele farms there as a member of the growers’ cooperative
Vitfrisch. He's based in the
Soester Börde, a fertile plain
about 40km from Dortmund,
where the soil is heavy: 80
points, according to the German
soil quality classification system. His total crop covers about
100ha, and more than a quarter
of that is devoted to kohlrabi.
“We start in early March with
5cm soil block plants, and in the
second week we switch to 4cm
plants, and then we do the first
tray plants. The first week, we
plant at 25cm; the second and
third weeks, 20cm; and after
that, 17cm. That gives us a very
uniform growth, with about
100,000 plants per hectare.
We do the last planting around
the 10th of August. We plant
full-field, with a row spacing
of 50cm.”
Soil cultivation is minimal. At
the end of the year, the ground
is ploughed so winter can do
its work before the soil is prepared in spring with the power
harrow. This is in combination
with the capillary action of the
soil, which means no irrigation
is necessary, ensures the soil
has a good structure and has
had a chance to rest. To combat
weeds, the grower applies
550kg/ha of calcium cyanamide
before planting and 350kg/ha
two weeks after planting.
Another two weeks after that,
the soil, which then has an
average pH of 7.2, is mechani­
cally weeded.
At 90 percent, the yields on
Scheele’s land are exceptionally high. One reason is that he
plants just one crop per field
each year. This uniformity allows
him to harvest everything at
one time. “Of course, we could
use the land more intensively,”
he says. “But that would only
minimally lower the cost price,
because yields would end up
being lower. So we let the soil
rest. That’s better for the yield
and the quality of the product.”
HECTARES PER STATE
(total ca. 2,000ha)
North Rhine-Westphalia = 550ha
Rhineland-Palatinate = 500ha
Lower Saxony = 300ha
A STABLE, HEALTHY
VEGETABLE
For the last 20 years, Scheele,
the farm’s third-generation
owner, has been concentrating
increasingly on growing kohlrabi, which is eaten both raw
and cooked in Germany. “In
the past, I always used to grow
Konmar,” he says. “Three years
ago, I switched to Konan. This
variety is extremely easy to
harvest, since the cabbage
grows high on the stalk and
the leaves are nice and straight.
The heart leaves also stay green
at high temperatures. And in my
experience, it’s relatively free
from problems with mildew and
Alternaria.” In fact, the grower
is so enthusiastic about Konan,
he’s considering using it as his
sole variety for another year,
even for late planting, although
there are varieties specifically
intended for that purpose, such
as Bejo’s Kordial. “Since the
disease levels on my land are
relatively low, I’d like to try that
sometime,” Scheele says. “The
crop’s convenience in the field
plays a part in that decision.
And if I don’t get the results I
want, I can still switch to Kordial
for late planting.”
5
RESEARCH
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
BLINDNESS
IN BROCCOLI
Blindness in broccoli is a problem. And that’s putting it mildly: there’s nothing more
frustrating than when your broccoli plants don’t form hearts. All those costs and all
that work for nothing. Fortunately the causes of blindness are becoming better
understood. “Warm” plant raising can go a long way towards preventing blindness.
At Wageningen University & Research, experts are getting to the heart of blindness.
<
William Gitzels (left), shown here with his R&D manager, Matthijs Woestenburg,
says that blindness is a stubborn problem.
6
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
RESEARCH
NOT JUST ONE CAUSE
Wageningen UR does fundamental research into the causes of
blindness. Seed companies carry a large part of the costs, because
research focuses on the underlying genetics. The study is a broad
one, including research into problems such as headlessness in
tomato plants. The commission heading the research is known as
the “Headlessness Board”. Yet it’s unclear whether headlessness
and heartlessness are related. The board’s chair is Corine de Groot
of Bejo Zaden. Because it is paid research and not all seed firms
participate, most findings are kept a trade secret. Researcher
Jennifer de Jonge did her doctoral work on blindness: her work
clarified which area of the genome is responsible for the problem.
However, there are dozens of genes in that area that might be
responsible. Further research will be needed to discover which
are the affected genes.
The research did suggest that germination conditions could
influence blindness, but it was unclear what exactly was involved.
It does seem to be the case that cold in the first days of germination
leads to more blindness. A surprising discovery was that molybdenum and other minerals have no influence on the incidence
of blindness. After 50 years of fertilizing with molybdenum, this
standard growing procedure can go out the window. De Jonge
also found that moistening the seeds and then drying them made
them somewhat less vulnerable, though whether this works for
all batches of seeds and all varieties remains to be seen. A newly
developed test for blindness can also show whether a particular
lot of seeds is unusually subject to blindness. Bejo will apply the
research in its breeding and seed production as it works to prevent
blindness.
Kohlrabi is highly susceptible to
blindness. Its sibling broccoli is
less vulnerable, but even so, a
grower can still suffer serious
losses. “Some varieties are
more prone to blindness than
others. That’s something plant
propagators need to be aware
of,” says William Gitzels, a
propagator in Wervershoof,
North Holland. Over the years
he’s acquired a lot of experience
with blindness. “It occurs most
often with low temperatures and
little sunlight – in other words,
in the spring.”
from. “But the second year it
rained complaints, because
some growers made the same
mistake of propagating using
convection heating. You just
have to keep the plants warm,”
Gitzels sums up.
HISTORY
Gitzels sketches a history of the
search among broccoli growers
for the causes of blindness. It
began around 1988, when six
growers started producing for
the wholesaler ‘WFO’. They
wanted to supply broccoli
early in the season by starting
propagation in October, as was
already done with cauliflower.
They tried germinating with
convection heat at a minimum
of 5°C, but it soon became
clear that at that temperature
broccoli would “bolt”: it began
to flower much too early.
Planting in December and
heating to a minimum of 10°C
produced fairly good-looking
seedlings that could be planted
out in March, but after they
had been covered for a couple
of weeks, three-quarters of
the young plants turned out to
be blind. Gitzels soon realized
what was happening. At low
outdoor temperatures under
a clear sky, the thermostat in
the greenhouse might be set
to 10°C, but heat was radiating
out, causing the actual tempe­
r­ature of the plants to go a few
degrees lower. When plants
were propagated using tubular
heating, radiant heat went
straight to the plants and their
temperature stayed at or above
10°C. “Later, when a screen
was put up, the number of blind
plants went down even further,
EARLY SOWING
Growers in England were
forcing the Marathon and Lord
varieties by sowing them in
September, so that before
the winter good-sized plants
developed that were less prone
to blindness. Gitzels tried that
too, sowing on September 25
in a 228 tray. But propagating
for such a long period in a dark
“Sensitivity to cold is not the
only reason for blindness”
because the plant temperature
held steady and never went
under 10°C. With the plants that
were still propagated using a
convection heater – and it was
a cold winter – there were a lot
of complaints.” The first year
working with the early variety
Sirtaki was a success, Gitzels
observes, and it didn’t matter
which grower the plants came
winter resulted in plants that
looked terrible, Gitzels recalls.
He decided to sow in December
instead, using roomier 96 trays.
“That was in 1992. In December
we sowed in 96 trays and in
January in 228 trays.” That
approach proved successful.
In 2014 Gitzels began propagating the December plants
under artificial light in both
96 and 228 trays. “Some of my
colleagues propagate in Spain.
We use SON-T lamps instead.
But either way, the time gain
isn’t spectacular.” On the other
hand, his experiment did yield
better-looking plants. “We’ve
limited the price increase in
the coming season to just the
electricity costs. We advise
people to order half lighted,
half unlighted. If you can supply
the market at the start of the
season, that makes it worth your
while.”
BUCKET
Gitzels compares a plant that
develops blindness to a bucket
that can hold a certain amount
of cold. It’s when the bucket
overflows that you get problems
with blindness. “With convection
heating you can germinate nice
plants, but when you take the
cover off after six weeks, 50
percent of them will be blind.
You’ve overfilled the bucket.”
Yet it’s still unclear what goes
wrong and how, even though
research into the causes has
been going on for five years.
A commission has been set up
to oversee research on blindness, with Gitzels as one of its
members, along with other plant
growers, seed companies, and
researchers from Wageningen
University.
7
CHINESE CABBAGE:
A HARD CROP TO GROW
8
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
GROWING FOR YOUR OWN BRAND
<
René Verbakel (left) and Peer Schraven: “Not many crops are available in the Netherlands
for more than 10 months a year. Chinese cabbage is one.”
Chinese cabbage is one of the most difficult crops to cultivate,
according to René Verbakel. He should know. For his own
Compliment label, he grows eight types of produce on about
500ha. For the past twenty years, one of them has been Chinese
cabbage.
Chinese cabbage didn’t become
part of Verbakel’s growing plan
as a result of a daring search
for a new crop. “No, everything
we do, we do at the customer’s
request,” he says. “Your wish is
our command.” It’s a strategy
the company has mastered.
“We don’t store stock,” Verbakel
says. “We have several ordering
times every day. We don’t even
harvest until someone places
an order. That does mean things
can get pretty hectic, and the
logistics can be tricky, but it
shows in the quality of the pro­
d­uct. And that’s what matters
to us.”
HOME AND AWAY
Before we get into the ins
and outs of growing Chinese
cabbage, a little about the
Compliment farm. It’s situated
in the southeastern Dutch
village of Zeeland, in the province of Noord-Brabant. Along
with Chinese cabbage, it grows
seven other crops: celery,
radicchio, iceberg lettuce,
red onions, fennel, carrots,
and cherries. The brand name
Compliment was chosen
“because it’s understood around
the world,” Verbakel says. The
farm employs specialists in a
number of areas, including
cultivation, soil preparation,
mechanisation and crop protection. It sells its produce
domestically and abroad. On
that subject, the businessman
shares some refreshingly downto-earth thinking. “In the past,
we were very export-oriented,”
he says. “But we realised that
that focus made us too vulne­r­able. We needed to make sure
we were doing well at home
first, and only then move back
into foreign markets.” The farm
has indeed ventured beyond
the border again. But its many
Dutch customers – supermarkets, wholesalers and industry
– and its farm shop, housed in an
attractive building inspired by a
hay barn, show that it still pays
plenty of attention to the market
‘at home’.
A SENSITIVE PLANT
With a total production of
approximately 400ha, Chinese
cabbage is a relatively small
crop in the Netherlands, but it’s
a complicated one. “Chinese
cabbage is one of the most
sensitive plants I know,” says
crop technician Peer Schraven.
“It grows incredibly fast.
Harvesting takes place an
average of 40 days after planting.
The crop is already supersensitive to insects and weather, and
on top of that, you get very little
time to manage its growth.
So everything you do, you have
to do at exactly the right time.
That sensitivity is the reason
why you don’t often see Chinese
cabbage in places where cabbage is grown year after year.
Here, we plant in fresh soil as
much as possible, and it’s still a
big job keeping clubroot and leaf
miners under control.”
THE PERFECT CHINESE
CABBAGE
The company grows Chinese
cabbage every year from early
March to mid-November. Summer
crops are planted in 1.80m-wide
beds of four rows each. Storage
crops are grown full-field, with
60cm row spacing. “The winter
crop has to go into storage
healthy. That’s why we leave
more distance between rows.
That allows it to dry out better
and grow more slowly.” The
perfect Chinese cabbage, accor­
d­ing to Schraven, is cylindrical,
with a rounded base – so you
don’t cut through the bottom
leaves when harvesting – and
between 25 and 30cm long.
And, of course, it comes from
Bejo. Right? “Ha ha. Yes, for us,
it does. Here’s a fun fact: in the
Netherlands, people prefer a
light green cabbage between
800 and 1,000 grams, but in
Eastern Europe, they want it
whiter and heavier.”
A SERIOUS RESPONSE
René Verbakel says he doubts
the hectarage devoted to Chinese
cabbage will increase much in
the near future – though he’s
convinced more could be made
of the vegetable if more people
realized its culinary value.
“Besides, it’s one of the few
Dutch-grown crops that is on
hand for more than 10 months
a year.” How does he foresee
his company developing in the
coming years? “The variety of
produce we grow will increase,”
he says. “The market is making
more demands in terms of
uniformity, efficiency and
certification. We’re responding
to that. Every question the market
poses, we take very seriously.”
9
BEHIND THE
SCENES OF HAK’S
SUPPLY CHAIN
Growers play a key role in getting tasty, healthy products
on the table. The well-known Dutch fruit and vegetable
processor Hak knows that, so it views cooperation along
the supply chain as crucial. Like Bejo, Hak is a partner
in Veldleeuwerik, a foundation that supports growers
in making their crops more sustainable. As such, the
company constantly works to further improve quality
and sustainability.
10
Don't expect luxury or trendiness from this
quintessentially Dutch brand. As you drive
up to the factory in Giessen, in the southern
central Netherlands, the no-nonsense
mentality is immediately obvious. There’s
no big glittering office building serving
as a showpiece: the factory is right out
front. Visitors drive around the building to
reach reception. Inside, a colourful wall
of Hak’s distinctively shaped jars several
metres high reveals a pride in the company
that’s palpable everywhere. Agriculture
and purchasing manager Adri den Dekker
and cultivation supervisor Marko Wolthuis
talked to us about Hak’s approach to the
supply chain.
RESPECT FOR PEOPLE AND NATURE
Hak started out as a family company,
founded in 1925 as a vegetable and fruit
dealer in North Brabant, where it’s still
based today. Soon, it began making apple
sauce and preserved plums. A few years
later, the Hak family began processing more
of its vegetables and fruit for canning. In
1952, they got bigger machines that used
the classic preservation technique first
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
SUSTAINABILITY
>
Marko Wolthuis (right) and Adri den Dekker assess a cabbage. Is it good enough for Hak?
developed in 1858 by a French army cook:
heating airtight jars. The company’s
longtime motto, ‘leven uit afhankelijkheid’ –
‘living in dependence’, perhaps better translated as ‘living with the earth’ – emphasises
the principles of reciprocity and respect for
people and nature. It still guides everything
they do at Hak.
cabbage is the undisputed number two.
It’s been on the menu since the beginning,
and we have a lot of our own recipes." An
established favourite is red cabbage with
apples – the dish accounts for 80 percent
of the red cabbage Hak sells.
SUSTAINABLE FARMING
“Of all the crops Hak processes,” Den
Dekker says, “red cabbage is one of the
stars. Apple sauce is number one, but red
To ensure a steady supply of top-quality
THE OLD WITH THE NEW
“Hak has had several different owners in
recent years,” Adri den Dekker says. It’s
been a turbulent period marked by changes
in direction. In 2013 though, Hak placed the
focus firmly back on its own brand, and it no
longer produces for supermarkets’ private
labels. Hak may be traditional, but it’s
always seen marketing and innovation as
important. Everyone in the Netherlands
knows Hak from its commercials featuring
the singer and actress Martine Bijl standing
among the crops in a field. With a few
breaks, she was the face of the company's
ad campaigns for 27 years. Today, Hak is
harvesting plenty of success with a new
campaign focused on Dutch cuisine, starring
TV chef Herman den Blijker. The company
continues to prove itself in innovation as
well. It recently came out with an awardwinning easy-open lid that puts an end to
the struggle with jars that won’t open.
IS IT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HAK?
>
RED CABBAGE: STAR OF THE JARS
Sustainability is of paramount importance
at Hak. The company aims to keep distances
between the fields and the processing plant
in Giessen as short as possible. All crops
are grown within a 125km radius. Hak, like
Bejo, is a partner in Veldleeuwerik, an
association whose 400 grower members
take steps to farm as sustainably as possible. Veldleeuwerik members currently
supply 30 percent of the produce Hak
processes. “And in 2017, it should be 40
percent,” Den Dekker says, adding that he’d
like to see the figure go even higher. “It’s not
happening fast enough for me yet.” “Within
our sustainability objectives, crop protection
is priority number one, two and three!” he
says. “[Dutch supermarket chain] Albert
Heijn issued a list of 28 chemicals it no
longer wants to see on its shelves by 2022.
Eleven of those substances are ones our
growers still really need right now.” Banning them will be a big challenge, he says.
“Crop improvement is very important for
this. Planting resistant varieties helps significantly in reducing the use of chemicals.”
Of all Hak’s products, red cabbage is one
of the stars.
crops, Marco Wolthuis visits farmers daily
to keep an eye on things. All Hak’s growers
work on a contract basis; the company
needs to be able to rely on a stable supply of
produce. “In the past, we did grow our own
products, but those risks are too great,”
Wolthuis says. “Is it good enough for Hak?”
That question is constantly at the forefront
of Wolthuis’s mind when he inspects crops
in the field. “It’s largely a visual judgement,
but if I’m not sure, I take a sample. Quality
and continuity have been even more challenging this year, with the extreme weather.
And we’re thinking about the long-term
consequences of climate change. But for red
cabbage sales, the future looks bright.”
>
At company headquarters, a colourful metres-high wall of Hak’s distinctively shaped jars manifests the firm’s pride.
11
HISTORY
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
‘THE BARGE
HAD TO BE
LOADED BY NINE ’
12
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
HISTORY
>
The floating auction started at 10.30;
every grower had a seller’s number.
Much of the Netherlands’ cauliflower
cultivation is concentrated in WestFriesland. But what’s the reason for that?
And why does monoculture, generally
regarded as detrimental to crops and
land, thrive there? In search of answers,
we talked with two veterans in the
business: Ton Slagter of Firma P.N.
Slagter and grower Piet Ligthart.
“You had a few clever people in the
village,” says Slagter. “Everybody else
grew cauliflower.
Sit down with Ton Slagter and
Piet Ligthart and the stories
start to flow. They recall how, as
small boys, they had to help cover the cauliflower. Three times
a week, Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays: old leaves off, new
ones on, and the old ones back
on top. “People thought that was
best for the cauliflower,” says
Ligthart. “But it was such hard
work!” They’re full of stories
about what it was like farming
on small plots of land divided
by ditches. The cauliflower was
transported by barge. “The
barge had to be loaded by nine,”
says Slagter. “The floating auction was at 10.30. Every grower
had his own seller’s number.”
MUSTN’T GRUMBLE
The land consolidation that began in the early 1970s heralded
a period of great change. Mechanisation made its entrance,
crop varieties improved, lighter
plastic containers replaced
wooden crates, and auction
prodedures were overhauled.
“From then on, all the cauliflower was thrown together,”
says Ligthart. “That was much
more efficient, of course. At the
same time, you still had three
different quality classes, and
not every grower agreed with
that change. There were some
fierce arguments. It was even on
the telly.” Solidarity was in short
supply, Slagter recalls. “And
actually, as far as that goes, not
a lot has changed. I read articles
sometimes where growers are
grumbling about the supermarkets. I don’t understand that.
They’re your customers. How
can you complain about them?
‘They have all the power,’ people
say. Sure they do. But it’s our
fault, isn’t it? We give them the
power, because we don’t work
together enough or treat each
other well enough.” The underlying cause of that, in Slagter’s
view, is another shortcoming,
and one that’s common across
the agricultural sector: a lack of
business acumen. “We’re entrepreneurs, but we don’t act like
it,” he says. “How could you be
a grower for 30 years and still
have to take out a loan for every
little thing? If you’re an independent grower, every year there
are periods that can make up for
the whole rest of the year.”
NOTHING’S CHANGED
Slagter and Ligthart agree
WHY SANDER STELTENPOOL BOUGHT A BINDING MACHINE
In 2011, cauliflower grower Sander Steltenpool was sick and tired of
spending extra hours hand-binding his crops. So he bought himself a
binding machine, which stitches the leaves together in a flash. What’s
the benefit been? “Peace of mind,” he says. “Cauliflower is a crop that’s
as changeable as the weather. The machine means I can respond much
faster if I suddenly have to bind. Two years ago, for example, we had a
huge unexpeceted growth surge. I was able to handle it. Without the
machine, I’d have had to write off part of the harvest.” Hand-tying is
not only highly labour-intensive, it’s extremely precise work and hard
to learn to do. “I wanted to be free from dependence on the staff. Does
machine binding improve the quality of the cauliflower? Yes, I think it
does. The leaves stay greener and don’t get as damaged.” Does the
binding machine have any disadvantages? “It’s an enormous investment,
of course. It’s also relatively high-maintenance: after about 30 hectares
you have to replace the bearings. And those aren’t cheap. Does machine
binding affect how you cut? Yes. You work less by sight and more by feel.
But that’s not really a disadvantage – you pick it up in about an hour.”
about the future of cauliflower:
West-Friesland will continue
to be the Netherlands’ top
growing region. “Cauliflower
has low disease pressure here,”
says Slagter. “That’s why
there’s a lot of land where it’s
been grown for decades and
decades without depleting the
soil. There are even fields where
they grow two crops a year.
Often it’s out of necessity, so you
can afford the high cost of leasing land.” Other predictions?
“There’ll be automated harvesting machines one day,” Ligthart
says. “And maybe new types
of cauliflower that won’t need
binding. Growing cauliflower is
still hard work because of binding. In that respect, nothing’s
changed.”
13
ARE BRUSSELS
SPROUTS ON
THE VERGE OF
A BREAKTHROUGH?
14
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
UNITED STATES
“Brussels sprouts could very well be the next big thing in the United
States.” That’s what Rob van den Bos, Bejo’s sprout specialist, predicts.
We interviewed him about global trends in sprouts – a product that’s
drawing plenty of interest these days.
NEXT BIG THING? REALLY?
“Yes. Healthy vegetables are a success
story in the United States. Kale has been
very trendy for a while now. And it looks like
Brussels sprouts will follow the pattern and
become the new kale.”
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE INCREASE
IN POPULARITY?
“Healthy eating trends have been around
for years now. At first, it was mainly the
superfoods that profited, such as seeds,
berries, and coconut products. But more
and more studies are showing that tradi­
tional vegetables like kale and savoy cabbage, and sprouts too, are major sources of
nutrients. For instance, they contain high
concentrations of glucosinolates, which
have been linked more and more with
prevention of certain diseases.”
cauliflower. Cauliflower and Brussels
sprouts could end up being huge here too.
Maybe literally, in the case of sprouts.”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘LITERALLY’?
“In America, with sprouts, it’s the bigger the
better. They like them to be between 30 and
40mm across. Here, we prefer them a bit
smaller. Consumers think smaller sprouts
have a milder taste. And they’re right, at
least partly – larger sprouts often have
slightly thicker leaves. But if you just boil,
fry or stir-fry a bigger sprout a little longer,
it’ll have the same mild, nutty taste as its
little brother. Who knows, maybe the Dutch
will convert.”
HAS THIS AFFECTED THE
CULTIVATION AREA IN THE
NETHERLANDS?
“Absolutely. In the United States, the acreage
devoted to kale and Brussels sprouts has
been expanding by about 20 to 30 percent
annually. About 5,000ha of sprouts are
being grown in the US and Canada this
year, and about 3,000ha more in Mexico.
And next year that area will expand even
more. Interest in this vegetable also seems
to be growing in other parts of the world.
In most European countries the growing
area is reasonably stable, at a few hundred
hectares per country. In Asia though, we
are seeing a clear rise.”
“Since I’ve been at Bejo and working with
this crop, the area devoted to Brussels
sprouts has fallen by about half, from 5,000
to approximately 2,500ha. But where yields
used to be 15 tonnes per hectare, nowadays
a yield of 25 to 30 tonnes per hectare isn’t
unusual, thanks to better varieties and
growing methods. So annual production
volume has stayed about the same.
Acreage could increase somewhat in the
coming years, but not explosively. What
we are seeing is a big upturn in interest
in organically grown sprouts, coming
from the industry and supermarkets. Will
consumption increase? Definitely. Young
people are discovering Brussels sprouts.”
WILL THE TREND SPREAD TO
EUROPE?
WHAT CHALLENGES DOES BEJO
FACE AS A BREEDER?
“I’m convinced it will. Every food trend
starts on that side of the ocean. In
brassicas, we saw it happen with
broccoli. Thirty years ago,
broccoli was not on the menu
in most of Europe. But after
it was ‘discovered’ in the
United States, we decided
to try it too. Now we grow
and consume more
broccoli in the Netherlands than the more
traditional
“Sprouts are a wilful and delicate crop.
For example, they respond unpredictably to weather conditions. And every
crawling, flying, stinging and
sucking insect adores them.
Which, by the way, says something about their nutritional
value. In recent years, we’ve
put a lot of effort into breeding to make sprouts a bit
less vulnerable to diseases
and pests, and to make their
shape more suitable for
HAS THIS LED TO AN INCREASE IN
CULTIVATION AREA?
mechanical cleaning. Brussels sprouts are
becoming more and more of a convenience
product. You don’t need to cut them off or wash
them – just open the bag and dump them in the
pan or the wok. We’ve got about 20 varieties
in our assortment now. The hybrid Divino, an
early variety, is flying out the door in America.
We’ve even had to disappoint some customers.
The Marte variety is also doing extremely well
there.”
A QUALITY RANGE
When it took over Agrisemen in 2015, Bejo acquired
several additional varieties of Brussels sprouts,
adding extra value to its range. Two of note are
Sofia and Steadia. Sofia offers a combination of
length and sturdiness and an ability to produce a
huge number of sprouts all between 23 and 38 mm.
Steadia, meanwhile, is able to produce sprouts of
exactly the right size and shape in the all-important
month of December. Bejo’s own varieties are also
extremely high-value. Sprouts like Marte, Irene and
Neptuno are mainstays in virtually every Dutch
grower’s range.
FACTS ABOUT SPROUTS IN THE
NETHERLANDS
•T
he planting season runs from the beginning
of April through the end of May.
•S
prouts have a growing period of between
120 and 260 days.
•8
0 percent of sprouts grown in the Netherlands
are exported.
• I n spring and early summer, the Dutch import
sprouts, mostly from Morocco and occasionally
from the southern hemisphere.
•W
ith its recent acquisition of Agrisemen, Bejo
now offers 20 varieties of Brussels sprouts, both
conventional and organic types, ranging from
early to late. The organic range includes the
Nautic, Dagan, Irene, Doric and Neptuno varieties
(in order of earliness and harvest time). Bejo has
products for harvesting from August to March.
15
POLAND
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
POLISH MARKET TRENDS
WHITE CABBAGE
MAKES WAY FOR KALE
Sauerkraut and coleslaw are age-old favourites in Poland. These cabbage
dishes have declined in popularity recently, though, because consumers
see them as too much trouble to prepare. Kale, by contrast, is garnering
more attention thanks to its healthy properties.
Brassicas are grown on small and large
farms in Poland. The big growers mostly
produce white cabbage, cauliflower and
broccoli, largely for the food industry.
They’re situated mainly in the north and
west of the country. Most of the smaller
brassica growers are located in central and
southern Poland. The central farms grow
mainly for industry, while the southern ones
focus on the fresh market.
A CHANGING MIX
White cabbage, Poland’s main brassica
crop, is grown on more than 20,000ha of
land. “But that area has been shrinking,”
says Irek Rucinski, Bejo’s sales manager
for Poland. “Demand for white cabbage
Consumers prefer
vegetables that are
easy to prepare
16
has fallen by 5 to 10 percent. We’ve seen
coleslaw consumption go down by 30
percent, and sauerkraut consumption by
15 percent. Consumers prefer salad these
days, since it’s simpler to prepare. Another
trend we’re seeing is that the fresh market
wants smaller cabbages. Cabbages grown
here used to weigh four kilos. Now one and
a half to two kilos is standard.” Cauliflower
farming is also declining. “The total acreage
has nearly halved in the last six or seven
years,” Rucinski says. “Six years ago,
Poland was growing more than 12,000ha
of cauliflower. Now it’s 3,000ha for industry
and 3,000ha for the fresh market. And I
expect the decline to continue.” Broccoli
is taking over cauliflower’s position on the
shelves. The amount of land devoted to it is
increasing accordingly. Currently, 2,000ha
of broccoli is grown for the fresh market,
and 5,000ha for industry. Cultivation of
Chinese cabbage, red cabbage and kohlrabi
remains stable, at 5,000ha, 1,200ha and
1,000ha respectively. Meanwhile, the hectarage devoted to kale farming has increased
sharply in the last few years. “In Poland,
as in other places, the product is profiting
from the interest in healthy eating around
the world,” Rucinski says. “We’ve seen 50
percent growth for several years in a row.
A few years ago, we couldn’t even meet all
the demand for kale seed.”
CURRENT TRENDS
The cultivation area devoted to brassicas
in Poland fluctuates sharply, and that’s not
likely to change anytime soon. “If prices
are good one year, planting will increase
the next,” Rucinski says. “Growers are
flexible, so they’ll just switch to cabbage
instead of wheat or potatoes. The Russian
boycott in 2014 had a massive effect. Sales
stagnated, and prices fell dramatically.
The following year, a lot less cabbage was
grown, and there was a vegetable shortage
as a result.” Health and convenience are the
main food trends in Poland at the moment.
Polish consumers, like their counterparts
elsewhere, want to eat healthily, and they’re
increasingly interested in the micronutrients
contained in various plants. There’s also
a growing appreciation for convenience
and variety in the kitchen. “We introduced
‘Coolwrap’ this year,” says Rucinski, “and it
promises to be successful.” Organic farming
is not increasing much in Poland. Rucinski
explains that growers have little confidence
in the method given the difficulties they
already face in farming conventionally.
Small farms are the main players in this
market segment. Supermarkets are seeing
rising demand for organic products, however,
so farming is sure to expand eventually.
Poland is already importing organic produce
from Germany and the Netherlands.
THE FUTURE
>
Poland’s entry into the EU had major
consequences. Growers began building
storage sheds in the expectation that they
would be able to export more produce.
Acreage increased and farmers invested in
new machinery. Things didn’t go as planned,
however, partly because of the Russian
boycott. Nonetheless, the trend of farms
becoming larger and more efficient is
likely to continue. Although the number
of growers will shrink, interest in the more
unusual brassicas will rise, and therefore
demand for exclusive products should
increase.
Growing areas in Poland.
17
SPAIN
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
SPAIN GROWS
BRASSICAS
MAINLY FOR
EXPORT
Brassicas are an important crop in Spain. Depending on type,
they’re cultivated year-round, though most are grown in winter
and spring. Spanish brassicas are destined for both the export
and domestic markets.
Acreage and production are concentrated in two areas: the Ebro
Valley in the north and the Murcia region on the Mediterranean
coast. In the Ebro Valley, growing takes place mainly in the winter,
with 75 percent of brassicas destined for the frozen market and
the remaining 25 percent for the fresh market, in Spain as well
as abroad. Murcia, however, leads the vegetable export market
in the winter months, and brassicas as a whole are one of its most
important crops. Four types in particular are grown there: broccoli,
cauliflower, kohlrabi and kale.
CAULIFLOWER
Spain’s main cauliflower-growing regions are again the Ebro
Valley – though production was reduced this year following price
decreases last season, after a mild winter yielded a bumper crop
– and Murcia, where the cultivation area has expanded this year
thanks to a positive market outlook. Murcia’s cauliflower, like its
broccoli, is produced in the Campo de Cartagena and Lorca areas
in winter.
KOHLRABI
All Spanish kohlrabi is grown for export.
BROCCOLI
KALE
Murcia is Spain’s primary broccoli-growing area. An estimated
20,000 of the nation’s 28,000ha of broccoli is located in the region.
Broccoli is grown all year here, at high elevations (above 700m) in
summer and in the Campo de Cartagena and Lorca areas the rest of
the year. The acreage is generally stable, though it has increased in
the Ebro Valley in recent years, while Murcia has seen a 10 percent
reduction because of problems with water used for irrigation.
Kale is becoming an increasingly important crop in the Spanish
production areas. It is grown mainly in the winter months.
WHITE CABBAGE
White cabbage has a relatively small export volume. It is grown
in Murcia, primarily for the Spanish market. The export market
accounts for less than 10 percent of the total.
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kohlrabi
Kale
White cabbage
Area
28,000 ha
9,300 ha
900 ha
450 ha
120 ha
Average planting
density
40,000 plants
per hectare
25,000 plants per
hectare (dep. on
desired number of
units per carton)
100,000 to 120,000
plants per hectare
35,000 plants
per hectare
50,000 plants
per hectare
Yield
+/- 18 tonnes per
hectare
22–30 tonnes per
hectare
30 tonnes per
hectare
32 tonnes per
hectare
40–50 tonnes per
hectare
Primary export
period
weeks 43 – 18
weeks 43 – 18
weeks 42 - 20
weeks 44 - 18
weeks 43 - 18
Chief export markets
United Kingdom,
Germany,
Netherlands
United Kingdom,
Scandinavia,
Germany,
Netherlands
Germany
United Kingdom,
Scandinavia,
Germany,
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Main varieties
Delano (in trials)
Adona, Skywalker,
Benidorm (latest
variety)
Korist, Kordial,
Konan
Reflex, Winterbor,
Starbor
Bronco, Gazelle
18
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
FRANCE
SAVOY CABBAGE:
A CLASSIC
FRENCH PRODUCT
The savoy cabbage of the future will be organic and smaller in size.
In France, the cultivation area devoted to this vegetable is growing
steadily. Bejo has new varieties with improved qualities.
Savoy is one of the oldest types of cabbage. The Gauls
and Romans had it on their dinner menu, but it gets its
modern name from the Savoy region in southeastern
France. Savoys are grown all across the country today.
The total cultivation area comprises about 1,400 to
1,600ha and is increasing by 1 to 2 percent a year. The
primary growing regions are Brittany and Normandy,
which harbour nearly 50 per cent of France’s savoy
fields between them. The crop is also a familiar sight
in southern France and Alsace, accounting for 11 to
14 percent of cropland in each region.
MODERN FARMING
“Open field vegetable producers in Brittany and Normandy are generally modern and highly mechanised,”
says Maxime Viel, Bejo’s representative for France.
“Farms range in size from 20 to 200ha. Growers are
able to provide savoy almost year-round. They plant
from March to August and harvest from June to April.”
Planting is primarily done mechanically, with a distance
between plants of 70 by 70cm (more than 20,000 plants
per hectare). “On a lot of farms, savoy cabbage is part
of the traditional crop plan, which also includes leeks
and carrots,” Viel says. “During the harvest, growers
cut twice a week. That enables them to offer a fresh
product on the open market. Only 5 percent is grown
on contract.” In France, it’s customary to pack savoys
in open crates, six heads at a time, with a total weight
of 9kg. Savoys are difficult to store long-term. “There
have been experiments with low-oxygen storage,”
Viel says. “But so far, they haven’t been successful.
And storage at lower temperatures hasn’t had the
desired effect either.”
ORGANIC CABBAGES, SMALL HEADS
Organic savoy cultivation has been a focus of attention
in the past few years, mainly among growers exporting
to Germany. Bejo has seeds suitable for organic
farming. “Another recent development is the growing
of mini savoy cabbages,” Viel says. “These cabbages
are six to eight centimetres in diameter and are supplied
to high-end restaurants. We use the same varieties for
these mini cabbages. Planting more densely and using
less nitrogen keeps the heads small.” Bejo is hard at
work on new varieties of savoy that will be even more
suitable for winter cultivation. These types will also
be highly resistant to Mycosphaerella. “We expect to
introduce the first new savoy varieties for the 2018
growing season,” Viel says. “With these varieties,
Bejo is responding to the demands of today’s market.”
>
Open field vegetable growers in Brittany and Normandy
are able to supply savoy nearly year-round.
19
PRODUCER GLK FOODS
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
SAUERKRAUT
TO SUIT EVERY TASTE
The making of sauerkraut has been traditional for centuries. GLK
Foods is one of the largest producers in the world. But the company
is more than just a sauerkraut giant. These days, GLK Foods sells a
number of other products, developed in response to current trends.
The company now known as GLK Foods
started life four generations ago in Bear
Creek, Wisconsin, as Flanagan Brothers.
The Downs family (relatives of the
Flanagans) eventually took it over, and in
2012, Ryan M. Downs bought the company
from his father, Ryan A. Downs. Over
the years, GLK Foods has purchased
and merged with a number of other kraut
makers around the northern US. It currently
has two highly efficient manufacturing
facilities: the original one in Wisconsin
and another in Shortsville, New York. Every
step of the production process is carefully
monitored – growing, harvesting and
processing. The whole enterprise is made
possible by the many growers who proudly
produce cabbage for the company. Some
have done so for several generations. As
the global sauerkraut market leader, GLK
Foods processes approximately 140,000
tonnes of raw cabbage a year. All of it comes
from small farms situated on some of the
country’s premier cabbage-growing land.
Sauerkraut
manufacturing is
a stable industry
Most cabbage is transplanted, though for
several years now, many growers have been
experimenting with direct sowing to save
the expense of transplanting. In the US, as
in the Netherlands, the majority of cabbage
THE PROCESS
grown for sauerkraut is machine-harvested.
On arrival at the factory site, the heads are
deposited on concrete slabs. Front-end
loaders place them on conveyor belts, which
transport them into the facility. Inside, they
make their way through a series of fully
automated machines, in which they are
chopped and salted. The next stop is the
stainless-steel vats where fermentation
takes place. During this process, GLK Foods
keeps a close eye on the levels of dry matter, vitamin C and sugars. Selecting the right
variety is another key factor. Types like
Cecile and Hinova are particularly suitable
for kraut and are easy to process.
A VARIETY OF FLAVOURS
GLK Foods sees sauerkraut as a stable
industry that has experienced a modest
boom lately. People born in the late 20th
century are interested in natural foods,
and sauerkraut has become popular with
millennials looking to eat healthily. To meet
the demand and keep up with trends, GLK
Foods has created a diverse product range.
One of its newest lines is the Saverne range
of artisanal, flavoured sauerkrauts, with
varieties including sriracha; curtido; dill
and garlic; Bavarian; craft beer; and curry.
The kraut is packed in resealable one-way
vented pouches that allow the contents to
>
The company’s research and development
team meets regularly to brainstorm new
ideas.
20
>
Much white cabbage in the US is machine-harvested.
continue their natural fermentation process.
The US sauerkraut industry tracks developments in Europe and is switching from jars
and tins to plastic pouches for the majority
of its packaging. GLK Foods distributes
most of its kraut in the US and sends small
amounts to regions such as the Caribbean
and Asia. The product can be found in convenience stores, on the food service market,
and everywhere in between.
EXPANDING THE RANGE
GLK Foods recently assembled a research
and product development team. Its members
meet regularly to brainstorm new ideas
and evaluate new projects. The company
expects the team will enable it to bring
successful products to market more
quickly. Though sauerkraut will remain
its primary focus, GLK Foods has recently
expanded its range to include other
vegetables. The new Oh Snap! brand,
for instance, features brineless pickled
cucumbers, green beans and carrots in
single-serve packaging – convenient,
healthy, portable snacks. In the coming
months, the company will launch another
health-conscious treat: the GoBitos range
of seasoned roasted chickpeas. GLK Foods
is enthusiastic about its new products,
and it looks forward to a bright future for
sauerkraut too.
21
FERTILISATION
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
‘DETAILS CAN
MAKE OR BREAK
A GROWER’S YIELD’
As far as fertiliser goes, growing brassicas doesn’t seem
hard: a good soil structure, plus fertilising in the amounts
demanded by the crop, and you’re almost there. “But it’s
all in the details,” warns fertiliser expert Chris van
Laarhoven. “They can make or break the end result.”
For a nice, healthy, thriving crop, you need
fertile soil. That seems obvious, yet soil often
gets less attention than it should. “Know
your soil!” Van Laarhoven advises. “What’s
your calcium/magnesium ratio? That’s
important. If you’ve got the balance right,
the soil will release minerals more easily
and the plants will grow better. The recommended ratio of calcium to magnesium is
5.6 to 1. That means that 68 percent of the
clay-humus complex (CHC) is occupied by
calcium and 12 percent by magnesium.
On very light, sandy soil the guideline is a
ratio of 60 to 20 percent and on heavy clay
70 to 10 percent. It always adds up to 80
percent. Along with nitrogen, magnesium
is a building block for chlorophyll, which
is something brassicas make a lot of.” The
fertiliser expert adds that on lighter soil in
22
particular, calcium tends to be less freely
available, but that element is essential for
preventing clubroot. “Before you plant,
spread granular gypsum: 500kg/ha. Sulphur
is another important element for brassicas.
Use a fertiliser that contains sulphur, unless
the soil provides enough of it through
mineralisation.”
fertile it is. In sandy soil, the CEC is almost
entirely determined by the presence of
organic matter. Van Laarhoven says: “CEC
readings can vary strongly per laboratory.
Plant sap analysis can show whether the
CEC corresponds to the nutrients that have
actually been taken up.”
EXCHANGE
In Brussels sprouts there are varieties
that can get leggy. But if you apply extra
potassium (such as 200 kilos of Patentkali
potash fertiliser) for sturdiness, you know
that a lot of nitrate will be released through
mineralisation. Plant sap analysis can help
you determine that, so you can contain it
with Kali 60%. The potassium is absorbed,
while the chloride it contains discourages
nitrate uptake.
In soil analyses by Soiltech in Biezenmortel,
North Brabant, the cation exchange capacity
(CEC) plays an important role. That is the
ability of the soil to exchange positively
charged ions with the soil solution. Clay
and organic matter attract positively
charged ions (cations) such as Ca2+, Mg2+, K+,
Na+ and H+. The higher the CEC, the more
cations the soil can attract and the more
ADJUSTMENTS
HORTINOVA
For ten years Chris van Laarhoven has
been part of Hortinova, a group of a
dozen advisors in the agrarian sector.
They all work independently within
the Hortinova organisation, which has
no managers or office. Each advisor
has his or her own speciality, but they
compare notes and fill in for each other
if necessary due to illness. Van Laarhoven’s own speciality is fertiliser and
nematodes.
>
Chris van Laarhoven: “Fertilising in
combination with plant sap analysis
gives the best results. You get a better
sense of what the crop needs and can
adjust your fertilisation strategy
accordingly.”
TIP BURN
Tip burn in cabbage often comes from too
little calcium uptake, but it can be hard
to get calcium into the plant cells. Boron
stimulates calcium uptake, thereby indirectly improving storage life. But many
soils lack boron. “Yet another detail that
can make or break the crop,” Van Laarhoven
comments. “Fertilising with boron before
the season starts is like an insurance
premium for good quality. Spray 3kg per
ha of Solubor mixed with 10l per ha of humic
acids and work that in gently. Humic acids
displace cations, which also improves
calcium uptake.” Heat stress can keep
boron from being taken up, which means
no calcium, either. That can lead to quality
problems, particularly internal tip burn.
This often occurs after a number of warm
days with cloudy nights. In that weather,
leaves aren’t able to transpire, which is
necessary for nutrient uptake. Brassicas
can develop quality problems in as little as
four days. There will be fewer problems with
the availability of boron and calcium if these
minerals are included in the fertiliser.
PESTS
Nitrate strongly attracts thrips and aphids.
Nitrate content can be measured in plant
sap directly. If it’s too high, then it’s important that it be converted to amino acids and
proteins. Along with nitrogen, magnesium
and sulphur, molybdenum also plays a role
in this process. Van Laarhoven advises:
“Add molybdenum by spreading 25g per
hectare of sodium molybdate with every
fungicide application. Make sure the plant
can’t take up too much nitrate, and that
nitrate can be converted in the leaves.
Then you won’t have to spray as often for
aphids or thrips. Spreading 300kg calcium
ammonium nitrate (CAN) on general
principle is a bad plan. Find out first with
plant sap analysis whether your plants
need nitrogen.” He concludes: “Fertilising
in combination with plant sap analysis gives
the best results. You get a better sense of
what the crop needs and can adjust your
fertilisation strategy accordingly. In a short
time you can learn a lot about your crop.”
23
ROBUST VARIETIES
FOR EVERY CLIMATE
AND EVERY NEED
Every year Bejo introduces new brassica varieties
for our growers. These new types all have improved
characteristics or respond to new market trends.
Traditional breeding, in combination with modern
selection, eproduction technology and bioinformatics,
form the basis of the new varieties.
Bejo’s trial fields and research greenhouses
are located in Warmenhuizen, and this is
where Bejo’s breeders, researchers and
bioinformatics experts work on new
vegetable varieties. Two brassica breeders,
Jan Sybe Wijngaarden and Bert Janssen,
and two researchers, Jan-Dick Ligthart
and Miranda Ruiter, talk about the latest
developments in brassicas.
THINKING AHEAD
At Bejo we see breeding as the science of
thinking ahead. Some Bejo varieties have
24
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
BREEDING
>
Bejo’s brassica team, from left: Miranda Ruiter (researcher), Jan Sybe Wijngaarden
(breeder), Bert Janssen (breeder) and Jan-Dick Ligthart (researcher).
resistant qualities for the most important
diseases and pests, such as the fungal
infections clubroot, Fusarium, mildew and
white rust and the bacterium Xanthomonas.
Bejo also believes that breeding for resistance should never come at the expense
of quality. Quality is a broad concept and
means something different for every brassica type. In headed cabbage, storage life
is important. For other brassica crops the
focus is on flavour or possibilities for use.
In addition, quality requirements vary per
region. That’s why Bejo has trial locations
worldwide, so that we can respond to the
wishes and needs of each market segment.
JAN-DICK LIGTHART
UP TO SPEED
Breeding in brassica crops is a time-consuming process. Using traditional breeding
it can take 18 to 20 years to develop a new,
commercially viable brassica variety.
With new technologies, such as tissue
culture and the use of DNA markers and
bioinformatics, this process can be speeded
up considerably. In tissue culture, plants,
seeds or parts of a plant are propagated
under optimum circumstances on an artificial nutrient medium. This offers a number
of possibilities. Not only can plants be bred
quickly, genetic material can also be stored
safely and it’s possible to break through
crossing barriers or more quickly establish
new parent lines.
“Breeding is just like a ‘rat race’.
MIRANDA RUITER “These days
The new plants are made resistant
tissue culture plays a key role in
by crossing them with a resistant plant.
breeding. We use tissue culture as an
In response, the fungus can overcome
extra tool in breeding so as not to lose
that resistance through natural
material, or to speed up the process.
selection. The fungus can then attack
That saves time and money.”
the plant again and the breeders and
researchers have to start all over.”
MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
At Bejo the lines of communication are
short throughout the chain. If a sales rep
in a particular area notices a development,
the breeders hear about it directly. That
way they can respond quickly to growers’
inquiries or consumer trends and look for
appropriate new varieties. Taste panels test
consumers’ response: how appealing is the
new type?
been on the market since the 1980s and are
still being grown with good results. Even so,
the company works constantly to develop
new varieties, so that there are always viable
options available the moment there is a
cultivation problem, or if a new trend arises.
The focus of Bejo’s research has traditionally been on quality combined with resistance breeding. Fungi, bacteria and insects
can recur at any moment if they manage to
break through an existing resistance. Bejo
utilises research and development to ensure
that there are enough varieties on hand with
JAN SYBE WIJNGAARDEN
“An important part of breeding is not
losing sight of the whole range of
qualities. For example, we have been
Another modern technology Bejo works
with is DNA markers. This method uses
a genetic map. The map for brassica is
already known, and the researchers know
exactly where on the nine chromosomes of
cabbage the various genetic characteristics
can be found, along with the matching DNA
markers. These markers make it possible
to spot whether or not a plant has a specific
desirable characteristic. Bioinformatics is
used to develop the markers, while various
DNA robots are used to evaluate leaf
samples. That makes breeding more
efficient and saves a lot of time. In acquiring
new expertise, the breeders and researchers
work closely with experts from various
universities and trial locations. In effect,
this means Bejo is present wherever
brassicas are studied, grown and eaten.
breeding Brussels sprouts for thicker
leaves, so the sprouts bruise less
BERT JANSSEN “We have trial
easily. But we don’t want to lose out
fields all over the world, from China to
on flavour or storage life. After we’ve
France and from Guatemala to Poland
‘made’ a new Brussels sprout it always
and Israel. That way we can align our va-
goes straight to our taste panel.”
rieties perfectly to the local conditions.”
25
GROWER TB&S
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
>
TB&S grows 200ha of pointed cabbage in Portugal, some on its own land, some through contract farming.
TB&S
SUCCESS ALL YEAR LONG
WITH POINTED CABBAGE
Think of pointed cabbage and you think of TB&S.
Brassica Magazine wouldn’t be complete without a visit to company
headquarters in Sint Pancras, North Holland, where Piet Timmerman
talks about the company’s history and its future.
TB&S grows all kinds of produce,
but just walk into the immense
sheds in Sint Pancras and you’ll
see what vegetable has pride
of place: pointed cabbage. It’s
with this product that TB&S,
over the past 30 years, has
developed a strong international
position. And this is the product
that the company is now able to
deliver year-round to most of
26
the supermarket chains in the
Netherlands, among others.
Yet the company chose to invest
in this handsome brassica more
or less by chance. When Piet
Timmerman was just getting
his bearings in the market in the
early ’80s, he saw opportunities
in pointed cabbage. Back then it
was grown mainly in southern
Europe. But that crop must be
able to thrive in Dutch soil too,
Timmerman thought. Time
proved him right.
SCRUBBED STORAGE
Timmerman’s choice for “scrubbed” (conditioned atmosphere
or CA) storage also turned out
to be the right one. He explains:
“These days we use an Ultra
Low Oxygen storage technique
that allows us to lower the O2
levels even further. The air in
the cold store passes through
a ‘scrubber’ that takes the
carbon dioxide out of the air.
The respiration of the product
itself and the introduction of
nitrogen into the storage space
lowers the oxygen level even
further.” That allows the
cabbages to keep even longer,
yet it’s not long enough to
be able to supply customers
year-round. That was what the
customers wanted, Timmerman
recalls, and the grower too:
“We had made a lot of progress
as a company; by then we
were market leader in pointed
cabbage. We didn’t plan it that
way. It just grew. An important
advantage of that position is
that you know a lot about your
customers’ needs. We liked that
and so did the customers. But if
we wanted to keep that market
position – and we did – then we
had to take the next step and
start supplying year-round.”
ALL YEAR LONG
What started with a plane ticket
to Portugal and a package of
seeds in a carry-on suitcase
developed for TB&S into a
200ha crop, some on its own
land, some through contract
farming. Not that this process
went as quickly or easily as
it sounds. Timmerman
comments: “I don’t mind
telling you that there were
times when we almost gave up.
You just have to take so much
into account, both the cultural
aspects and the organisation.
We’ve been very lucky with our
agronomist. He’s a good man,
he’s good with languages, he
has great social skills and he
understands growing. With his
effort we’ve been able to set
up a well-oiled operation, and
we’ve got a CA facility there
now too.”
to the CA storage. The produce
from Portugal fills the gap.
“The two production locations
complement each other
perfectly. And now we even
supply in Portugal.”
SEVEN-HEADED COMPANY
The growth of the business
naturally demanded more from
the organization, which is now
run by seven members of three
different families: Timmerman
(T), Bergen (B) and Swager (S).
“It’s good to get together
and discuss all your
different points of view"
The result is that TB&S now
supplies pointed cabbage
all year long. From May to
September the company harvests in Holland. That supply
lasts through February, thanks
Each has his own delineated
tasks and responsibilities within
the company. “We started out
as two companies with more or
less the same goals. We decided
that one plus one made three:
it would be better to join forces
than to compete with each other.
It’s turned out well. The seven
of us don’t always agree with
each other, but we don’t need to.
On the contrary: it’s good to get
together and discuss all your
different points of view. That
keeps you sharp.”
CHALLENGE
Now the company has a strong
organization. For many national
and international retailers TB&S
is the most important supplier
of pointed cabbage and the
atmosphere in the company is
noticeably good. In addition,
consumption of pointed cabbage
continues to increase.
What’s the biggest challenge for
TB&S? “That would be keeping
both feet on the ground. We’re
a common-sense company with
hard-working people. We’re
proud of what we’ve achieved,
but we don’t like to show off.
What we do, we do well. Holding
on to that – that’s the biggest
challenge.”
27
STORAGE:
COOLING ON THE EDGE
FOR THE BEST RESULTS
Storing brassicas is a normal part of the job for many growers. But take a good look at various aspects
of the storage process and you may find room for improvement. How is your CO2 percentage, your
air circulation, how consistent is your temperature? Cooling and storage experts Johan Nijssen of
Agrofocus and Ton Besseling of the Besseling Group explain.
BIG DIFFERENCES
Agrofocus consults and provides support in the construction
of commercial buildings and installations. Cooling and storage
specialist Johan Nijssen of Agrofocus is regularly asked to evaluate
quotes. That’s no surprise, since a layman is generally in no
position to judge. “If a grower has asked for three quotes, I usually
see that none of the three is accurate,” he says. “You would expect
that when you give the exact measurements of the storage space,
the quotes wouldn’t differ much. You’d be surprised. They may
differ in capacity by as much as 40 percent.”
Choosing the right coolant is also difficult for an outsider, particularly since every situation is different. But for Nijssen it’s clear
as day. “For large installations ammonia makes sense, but
propane/CO 2 is also an option. Ammonia is toxic and requires
expensive safety measures, so it costs too much for smaller
installations. There you have to make a choice for one of the many
synthetic coolants.”
28
Johan Nijssen of Agrofocus acts
as a consultant for storage and
construction projects. But even
when all the equipment needed
for storing headed cabbage has
been installed, a lot can still
go wrong. Nijssen can give any
number of examples. Trouble
can start on the field: growth
problems are a bad sign, and
a growth spurt at the end is
really disastrous. “Preventing
problems in the cold store starts
with proper harvesting,” Nijssen
says. “And if a cabbage looks
suspicious, whatever you do,
don’t put it in! Damaged brassicas give off extra ethylene and
are susceptible to disease. That
only makes things worse in the
cold store.”
AN EXTRA BOX
Proper storage begins with
keeping to the right stacking
arrangement, Nijssen explains.
Pushing the rows together is a
bad idea, because then there’s
no room between them for the
cold air. The space between the
rows and the front and back
of the storage space (in the
direction of the air flow) should
be at least 40cm to 60cm wide,
otherwise the cold air won’t get
all the way to the back. “The
worst is if that one extra pallet
box gets put on top, right in the
air flow from the evaporator.
Then all the cabbage in front of
the evaporator freezes, while
the produce in the back doesn’t
get cooled.” For long-term
storage the temperature should
be kept as close as possible to
0°C. That can be risky, because
temperatures that drop just a
few tenths of a degree under
zero can cause ice crystals to
form in the cabbage.
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
STORAGE
Good
storage conditions start with the right stacking
arrangement.
>
put meters in the middle of the
boxes at various points. But
then you need to get remote
readings.” Headed cabbage
should cool off fast. Agrofocus
calculates cooling capacity
based on a seven-day cool-down
period. “Even for customers
with a low harvesting capacity
we assume the store will be
full in a few days, because the
situation can change so easily.
And we’re taking into account
that autumn temperatures keep
going up. If you harvest the cabbage at three degrees warmer,
that means you’ll need a few
more kilowatts of extra capacity.
For the total investment costs it
doesn’t make much difference.”
CA STORAGE
Nijssen remarks: “It’s a good
idea to track the temperature
of the cabbage, because you’re
right on the edge in terms
of cooling. If you measure
at several different points in
the cold store, you can catch
temperature variations.
Cabbage that is one degree
warmer, anywhere in the store,
won’t keep as long. If you
measure a difference, you can
cool longer and circulate the
air longer after a cooling cycle.
Long storage of cabbages,
especially pointed cabbages,
under CA (controlled atmosphere) conditions is a common
Dutch practice. Where cabbage
was originally stored at
1 percent oxygen (O2),the current
standard is 0.5 percent plus
1 percent carbon dioxide (CO2).
The low O2 content keeps the
cabbages from “breathing”
as much, so they keep longer.
But there are limits: an even
lower O2 content makes the
cabbage oversensitive to CO2.
“You need the right combination
of both to put the cabbage to
sleep,” observes Ton Besseling,
director of the Besseling Group,
a company in Oosterblokker,
North Holland, that specialises
in the design and production of
CA equipment and the manage-
“Preventing problems in
the cold store starts with
proper harvesting”
If you think it’s too much work
to jab a product thermometer
into a cabbage at various points
in the store, then you can also
ment of storage processes,
including cooling, but in particular CA storage. CA begins as
soon as the cabbage has been
cooled down to 0°C. The O2 is
then lowered in one day to 1
percent by pumping in nitrogen,
made with a generator that
removes oxygen from the air.
Besseling specialises in doing
this with as low energy usage
as possible: “For an installation
for which we need 3 kilowatts,
some other manufacturers need
12.” Besseling also focuses on
ease of maintenance: “With
some machines you already get
anxious if you think you might
have to replace the fan.”
CO2 content is regulated with
a CO2 adsorber. Besseling’s
adsorber has a ‘scrubber lung’
which means that almost no
oxygen can enter the cold store.
The process is controlled from
one central measuring station,
with air being drawn off from
each storage cell and transported to the station.
SEALED
A modern cold store is gas-tight.
When it has been filled, the
cooling mechanism is turned on.
Cooled air shrinks, causing air
pressure to drop, which means
that the store can implode.
The difference in air pressure
is absorbed by pressure valves.
In CA storage, small pressure
differences are offset with a
large air bag or “breather bag,”
which acts without allowing
air from outside into the cold
store. The aim of CA storage is
to keep outside influences to a
minimum. Large differences
in air pressure are regulated
with special overpressure and
underpressure safety valves.
Besseling advises taking readings from the CA store every
other day. “If that seems like
too much, then definitely at
least once a week. Don’t get
too comfortable, just because
it’s been going well for years.
You don’t want to be caught off
guard.” In standard storage the
percentage of CO2 can get too
high, and that can cause black
pits on the ribs of the leaves.
Nijssen says: “As long as you
TIPS
- Have your cooling system maintained
and your meters checked every year.
- Use boxes that have been thoroughly
cleaned. Disinfection is a good extra
step.
- The busy time around the harvest
is when most mistakes are made.
Make sure that everything is ready in
advance and everyone knows what to
do. It’s a good idea to set up a protocol.
- Paint the stacking pattern on the floor.
That helps prevent mistakes in filling
the store.
- Putting in too many boxes will reduce
the quality of the entire store. It’s
better to sell some of the crop straight
from the land or rent storage space.
- Cover the top boxes with perforated
plastic sheets to prevent them from
becoming too cold and losing too much
moisture.
- Keep the spaces between the rows
open.
For CA storage:
- Check the set values with a hand
meter. Don’t only rely on the automatic
system.
- Check the meters with a span gas.
- Proper circulation is especially
important in CA storage, because
O2 and CO2 have different densities.
come into the store a few times
a week to inspect the produce,
there will be enough ventilation.
But when the store stays closed
for weeks, the CO2 can really
go up. A PVC pipe through the
wall behind the evaporator and
a ventilator grill on the opposite
wall of the store can prevent
that problem. If I was a headed
cabbage grower, I know I would
want to measure CO2 levels.
A meter costs about 450 euros
and you can read the levels right
off. With bigger spaces that’s
easy to install as part of the
ventilation system. No matter
how good the technology gets,
the grower will still have to keep
a finger on the pulse to achieve
perfect storage results.”
29
UNITED KINGDOM
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
Simon Naylor (left) with David Clay,
crop manager brassica, Elsoms Seeds >
Simon Naylor
FROM LINCOLNSHIRE
TO INDONESIA
White cabbage may not be the world’s sexiest vegetable,
but for English grower Simon Naylor it’s the heart and soul
of his enterprise in South Lincolnshire. His company is one
of the UK’s largest suppliers of white, red and pink cabbage.
Most of the varieties he produces come from Bejo.
>
Almost all the coleslaw produced in the United
Kingdom for food service companies, restaurants,
wholesale and retail comes from Simon Naylor’s
farms.
On the first day of his 2016 cabbage harvest,
Naylor is happy to talk about his business.
He’s just returned from a visit to brassica
test farms in Indonesia. At home he grows
cabbage in the fields of South Lincolnshire.
The cabbages are harvested by hand and
stored at the company’s facility near
Spalding. After storage, the produce is
sliced and packaged in one of the operation’s
two packaging locations.
“Almost all the coleslaw produced in the
United Kingdom for food service companies,
restaurants, wholesale and retail comes
from our farms,” Naylor says. “Our products
meet the needs of the market. We also
export quite a bit to Europe, which means
we’re aware of the demands of the continental market. The main thing is to make
the most of the opportunities that come up.”
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Where opportunities are concerned, Naylor
looks further than many others in the
industry. “We’re now growing in Indonesia
30
and other parts of Asia, and we’re working
closely with Bejo in Singapore. Tests there,
using the same cabbage varieties that we
grow here in the UK and in Europe, are
very promising. There are more potential
customers in Asia and we can get a higher
price right now than we can in Europe.
Transportation costs are lower, too. It’s
cheaper to send a pallet of cabbages to
Asia than to the south of England.”
The Asian market has potential, Naylor
believes. “The economic pressure on fresh
produce in the UK and Europe is high
because of the labour costs. As long as
there are no robots or other technologies
available, cabbage will still have to be
harvested and packed by hand. A major
customer asked me recently whether the
work was sustainable and I had to say:
‘Not in the long term.’ Most of the growers
are family-owned farms, and they have to
put in more and more of their own labour
and management. Only if innovations like
robotics appear does cabbage have a future
in the UK. Otherwise, the prices will have
to go up.”
WHAT THE MARKET WANTS
Naylor’s firm regularly speaks with sales
representatives from Bejo and other seed
producers about what British growers
want in a brassica. “In general they want
a sweeter, crisper cabbage that can be
used for coleslaw, while in much of Europe
they’re mainly growing for sauerkraut,”
Naylor says. “Although the demand in
Europe is increasing a bit for varieties that
are good for coleslaw, the focus right now
is on types with a high yield that are cheap
to produce and can be machine-harvested.
Everyone is looking for a product that can
be stored longer and keeps its quality, with
less waste after storage.”
Naylor also works at developing new
concepts. He is the exclusive grower in
the UK of pink cabbage varieties, which
in contrast with most red cabbages don’t
“bleed” when cut. “That development has
been expensive. Our progress is slow, and
meanwhile I’m getting a lot of interest from
Asia. A lot of growers would have given up
long ago.” This shows that there’s a real
need, not only for a sustainable commitment
on the part of the industry to invest in new
developments, but also for long-term
"The Asian market
has potential"
relationships between growers and
breeders. It’s no surprise that Naylor,
along with his local distributor in the UK,
Elsoms, has a good relationship with the
whole Bejo team.
“Bejo’s varieties tend to do very well,”
he explains. Roughly 80 percent of the
production on his farms is white cabbage
varieties, with 20 percent red cabbage.
“Typhoon and Perfecta do particularly well.
Processors would like an alternative for
Almanac, because of its woody heart, but
at the moment there’s no other variety that
can guarantee such early production.
That means that we often have to de-heart
the Almanac ourselves. And for the end of
the season, Expect is still a good cabbage
for storing.”
A YEAR OF CHALLENGES
Weather conditions made the 2016 growing
season a challenging one in the UK. “We had
heavy rains in June, and after that we had
huge problems with cabbage moths,” Naylor
recalls. “Then we experienced a period of
drought and now, in early October, it’s cold.
Whatever impact climate change seems to
have, the weather gives difficulties in every
season. Whenever there’s a shortage in the
world of any kind of fresh produce, it’s almost
always because of the weather. That’s why
there’s a need for reliable varieties that can
do well under all conditions.”
31
NEW INTRODUCTIONS
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
NEW BRASSICAS HIT
THE MARKET
Bejo is bringing some eye-catching brassica concepts to the market:
Coolwrap, Léttage and Kohrispy. With these new products Bejo shows how
traditional vegetables can fit into the latest health and lifestyle trends.
32
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
In recent years Bejo has devoted more and
more energy to exploring new ways of using
fresh produce. A range of interested parties,
from consumers to catering companies
to retail and the processing industry, are
constantly on the lookout for innovative
products and unusual recipes. Bejo brings
together various partners in the chain in
its search for new concepts. With our
LÉTTAGE
The name Léttage, a combination of
“Lettuce” and “Cabbage”, is being used for
several different varieties of cabbage with
a mild, sweet flavour. The idea behind
Léttage is that cabbage stays crisp and
fresh and has a high nutritional content,
making Léttage an ideal ingredient in
healthy, flavourful salads. The concepts
Léttage in Europe and Sweetheart Léttage
in the United States are linked, and
encompass not only a number of sweet
white cabbage types but also a pointed
cabbage variety. All of them have roughly
the same characteristics. The term
Sweetheart Léttage is mainly used for
a pointed cabbage cut in half to show the
heart. This concept draws more attention
to sweet, mild cabbages with a looser, more
open structure than the traditional white
cabbage varieties. In England, too, the
concept has led to a rise in the popularity
of sweet white cabbage.
knowledge of varieties, the market,
marketing and trends, Bejo supports
farmers in growing new products and
introducing them into the market.
WORLDWIDE
New concepts can generate more attention
for brassicas, which in turn stimulates
consumption. All innovations are developed
COOLWRAP
Coolwrap is a new type of cabbage whose
square leaves can be used as a wrap, in
sushi or as part of a healthy sandwich. It is
a specially selected, flat white cabbage with
a mild taste. It is grown in the Netherlands
by two companies, Kos in North Holland
and Simons in Limburg, and is available
at several Dutch supermarket chains,
including Albert Heijn, Dirk van den Broek
and DekaMarkt. The Coolwrap concept
is also finding its way to other European
countries, including Poland, Sweden and
Denmark. Coolwrap has its own website,
www.coolwrap.eu, where all kinds of
information can be found about the product
and its many uses. Bejo has developed
Coolwrap recipes and even a film. Articles
have appeared in various media and social
media is being used to tell consumers about
Coolwrap. Fun fact: Coolwrap was the
“vegetable of the month” in Dutch grocery
chain Albert Heijn.
NEW INTRODUCTIONS
with health, taste and convenience in mind.
It’s not easy to come up with the latest food
trend, and many things need to be taken
into account. Bejo’s marketing, sales and
breeding employees work closely together
and consider all sides of the problem, taking
a worldwide look at growing techniques, the
practical value of new varieties, flavour and
other market needs.
KOHRISPY
Within the “Taste-Health-Convenience”
concept theme Bejo has developed new,
flavour-friendly kohlrabi varieties – such
as Konan and the purple Kolibri – that are
suitable for raw eating. Kohrispy kohlrabi
sticks are made from the flavourful new
Konan variety. Kohrispy is convenient and
also very healthy, thanks to high levels of
vitamin C and antioxidants. The flesh of the
kohlrabi root is juicy and crunchy and has
a mild, melon-like smell and a smooth,
sweetish taste. Because cut kohlrabi
doesn’t change colour, it makes an excellent
convenience food, making it fit perfectly
into the current food trends.
33
UNITED STATES
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
KALE
FROM UNKNOWN
AND UNLOVED
TO HIP AND TRENDY
>
Kale juice for breakfast, kale chips for healthy snacks and kale leaves
grilled on the barbecue. The trend for healthy eating stimulates creative
cooking. Kale is a trendy ‘superfood’ in the US, and that development is
making waves in the rest of the world.
Reflex, from Bejo
Kale is full of vitamins and
minerals. “The hype for healthy
eating in the US has had a huge
impact on kale in recent years,”
says Jan van der Heide, Sales &
Product Development Manager
for Bejo in the United States.
“Obesity is a problem here,
and more and more people see
the importance of eating well.
Several years ago the ANDI was
published, a scoring system
that currently forms the basis
for a lot of nutritional advice in
America.”
The ANDI, or Aggregate Nutrient
Density Index, was developed in
the early 2000s by the American
nutritional expert Joel Fuhrman.
The index classifies foods on the basis of how rich in nutrients they
are compared to the number of calories. Kale, with a high nutrient
density and few calories, heads the list with 1,000 points. Vanilla ice
cream, corn chips and cola are at the bottom of the list with 9, 7 and
1 point respectively.
IMAGE
Van der Heide continues: “Kale scores high on the ANDI list because
it contains not only vitamins but antioxidants, beta-carotene, calcium
and glucosinolates, all micronutrients that are said to have a variety
of health benefits. After it was included, the image of kale in the US
changed completely. It used to be a niche product that was seldom
seen outside the organic sector. The average consumer thought the
leaves were too tough and didn’t like the taste. Now there are all
kinds of delicious recipes in circulation and people love kale. Highclass restaurants all have it on the menu, and even McDonald’s is
interested in this vegetable.”
34
CULTIVATED YEAR-ROUND
Kale is grown and harvested all year long in the US, often on smaller
farms. The leaves are picked from the stalks while the plant keeps
growing. “It’s great to see. At the end of the season the field is full
of what look like little palm trees,” Van der Heide says. The crop
thrives in the continental climate and is not especially vulnerable
to disease or pests. Cabbage caterpillars are the most common
problem, but they can be controlled with organic methods. In the
summer, kale is grown primarily in the northern US (Winterbor
and Ripbor) and in the winter, it is grown in the south (Darkibor
and Ripbor). These varieties are well suited to the extreme weather
conditions that prevail in much of the US. There are also kale varieties
with a juicier leaf, such as Reflex, but these grow better in Western
Europe.
FORERUNNER
Van der Heide observes: “Bejo’s researchers are working hard to
develop new kale varieties, and they are also doing a lot of breeding
work with other brassica types. Taste and texture are important,
and cabbage types with a thinner, more flavourful leaf are becoming
more popular. Examples are pointed cabbage (Caraflex) with a fine,
tender leaf, and flat cabbage (Gunma) with a thin, crisp leaf. These
types of cabbage do well in fresh salads. But not only that, they’re
good for stir-frying, because the thinner leaves cook faster.”
The healthy food trend has also crossed the ocean to Europe,
which has a growing problem with diabetes and obesity. In addition,
European consumers, like Americans, have less time to cook
traditional, local foods. The brassica specialist points out: “In
Europe too, there’s a lot of interest in creative cooking, and chefs
have discovered new ways to turn an unloved vegetable like kale into
a healthy tastemaker. The demand for new foods has also led to the
introduction of sweet cabbage (Cambria) and Coolwrap (Gunma).”
Van der Heide sums up: “You could see kale as a forerunner.
The same nutrients that make it so healthy can be found in all the
other brassicas. Think of Brussels sprouts, savoy cabbage, Chinese
cabbage and bok choy. In the coming years I expect these crops, too,
to profit from the trend.”
KALE SMOOTHIE WITH AVOCADO,
BANANA AND COCONUT MILK
For two glasses:
– a good-sized handful chopped kale
– 1 banana
– 1 ripe avocado
– 150 ml coconut milk
– 100 ml water
– lime juice
Put the kale, banana, avocado and other ingredients
in a blender and puree until smooth. Be sure the kale
is completely blended. Add a little fresh lime juice for
extra zing.
35
>
Jan Willem Bakker: “If you don’t turn over
the soil, it keeps its natural composition in
all its complexity and balance.”
BAKKERBIO
JAN WILLEM BAKKER
NURTURES THE SOIL
In Munnekezijl, Friesland, Jan Willem Bakker grows organic vegetables
at his farm BakkerBio. With the right green manure, smart crop rotation
and as little tillage as possible, he has greatly improved his soil life.
The once poor soil has been transformed into fertile earth well suited
to growing cauliflower.
36
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
ORGANIC GROWING
In 2000 the experimental farm Kollumerwaard (www.spna.nl) converted partly to
organic. This inspired nearby farmers Jan
Willem Bakker and his father Wridzer to
switch to organic growing of vegetables and
potatoes. To acquire expertise, father and
son went to trade shows, visited other farms
and joined study groups. “In the organic
sector you find bits and pieces here and
there and you develop your own ideas,”
Bakker says. The Bakkers’ conclusion was
that organic farming depends on healthy
soil.
NO MORE PLOUGHING
Cauliflower entered the crop plan for
BakkerBio and has never left. Jan Willem
Bakker describes their business model:
“The market for cauliflower is expanding
and the crop grows well on our land. Our
cauliflower is now carried in the organic
section in Jumbo supermarkets, among
others. We wanted to grow only first-class
cauliflower and were wondering how to
do that. The secret of our success lay in
the soil: in 2004 we stopped ploughing and
switched to a crankshaft spading machine.
Spading has many advantages: the organic
matter doesn’t get buried and you don’t
have as many problems with the plough
pan. Manure and crop residue remain
closer to the surface. Spading leaves the
soil lighter.” In 2006 father and son bought
a farm that was known as “poor”. “People
said: ‘Congratulations on your new farm,
too bad about the land.’ But the worst fields
then are the best ones now,” Bakker says.
A few years later the Bakkers were deciding
per plot whether or not to spade the soil,
and in 2010 they stopped turning it entirely.
“If you don’t turn the soil, it keeps its natural
composition in all its complexity and balance.” Bakker emphasises the importance
of healthy soil life. To demonstrate his point,
he puts a spade into the soil between the
cauliflower plants. It’s full of worms. Then
he digs into a tire track and shows earth with
blue clods. “Where the tractor has ridden
the soil organisms have died, leaving behind
blue earth that smells like rotten eggs,
where nothing grows.” The Bakkers con­
cluded they should drive as little as
possible over the fields.
GREEN MANURE
For fertiliser Bakker uses only livestock
manure. “That’s to feed the soil. Then the
soil feeds the crop.” A third of the manure
comes from his own animals; the rest is
organic goat droppings. Bakker fertilises
two or three months before the growing
BAKKERBIO
season starts, so the soil organisms have
had a chance to do their work. He spreads
roughly 30 to 35 tonnes per hectare for
cauliflower, depending on the previous crop.
Carrots, grass-clover and grain aren’t given
any livestock manure. BakkerBio maintains
a six-year crop rotation. “In organic farming
you can see exactly how your land is reacting. You have a basic plan, but you watch to
see if this is what you had in mind. I already
know where my cauliflower will be growing
six years from now. We always have cauliflower, celeriac and potatoes. The rest of our
growing plan is more flexible: the oats and
pumpkins I have now could just as easily be
beans.” The grower keeps his ditches clear
and drains 6ha of land every year. Nor will
you find any fallow land at BakkerBio.
“We always use a green manure after the
crop. That way the soil is always nourished
and it holds fertilisers better. It makes
the plants stronger and more resistant,”
Bakker says. It also means the crops need
30 percent less fertiliser. Right now he is
growing Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) as
green manure after the cauliflower. With his
system emphasising soil life, he has been
able to raise the organic matter content of
the land. “The earth has come alive again.
Working together with nature is the path to
sustainable farming.”
Just behind the dyke in Munnekezijl,
Friesland, in the Lauwersmeer area,
stands Jan Willem Bakker’s new
farmhouse. The old one burned down
last year after a lightning strike.
Crop plan
80ha own land
25ha cauliflower (incl. rented land)
8ha celeriac
4ha carrots
6ha oats
6ha pumpkins
12ha seed potatoes
grass-clover mix for the livestock
Sales
The Greenery, Naturelle, Coforta, Agrico
and individuals.
In addition, Jan Willem raises organic
Charolais cattle as a hobby. The animals
graze in the summer in the Lauwersmeer
area. In 2016 BakkerBio was awarded the
Ekoland Innovation Prize.
37
GROWER MARTIEN AARTS
BRASSICA MAGAZINE
‘AS LONG AS I CAN STILL
WALK, I’LL GROW BROCCOLI’
By day he has a full-time job with a growing and packaging
firm in Haarsteeg, North Brabant. Evenings and weekends,
Martien Aarts grows for himself. And how! It’s impressive
to watch him pack broccoli in his dimly lit shed in Dongen.
He works at a rate of five hundred an hour, 270,000 per year.
Alone, by hand. “The broccoli is cut in the morning,” the
grower says. “I’m not there during the week, but I have a
team of about three people working for me. Then the broccoli
goes into the cold store. The following evening I pack it, and
then it gets shipped to market in Belgium.”
EASY CROP
If you didn’t already guess: Martien Aarts is a hard worker.
Starting in 1979 he spent some thirty years growing leeks,
until little by little the business went south. One day a
co-worker asked him for help packing broccoli. Aarts got
such a good feeling about the vegetable that he kept on
helping, and in 2011 he himself switched to growing broccoli.
He currently grows on 9ha per year. “It’s a relatively easy
crop that doesn’t need a lot of weed or disease control.
Not only that, it produces a beautiful, healthy, delicious
vegetable,” he says, full of genuine enthusiasm. Just by
looking at his broccoli plants you can tell that he’s a craftsman and a grower in heart and soul. It’s mid-September,
with temperatures around 30°C for the second day in a row,
when he talks to us for the magazine, but his crop looks
as neat as a pin. His secret? “No matter what the weather
report says, I water the plants if they need it.” His results
are, without exaggeration, outstanding. He claims that 98
percent of what he cuts is Flandria quality, destined for the
Belgian vegetable market. “If I find I’m taking less than
80 percent from the field, then I don’t harvest. There’s no
point. What I get from this field? I think at least 95 percent.”
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Aarts’s enthusiasm for broccoli is matched by his interest
in the progress that seed companies are making in developing new varieties. For the past three years he has had
good experiences with Malibu, especially for early growing.
In the summer he grows little or no broccoli, because then
he has his hands full with his other work. “Malibu is a fast,
strong variety with reliable results. It has a nice, compact,
round closed head that doesn’t hold water, which makes it
less prone to bacterial soft rot. And look at it this year: the
conditions were anything but ideal and September was
much too hot, but the broccoli is gaining weight and looks
good. I know, because I handle each and every one of them.”
GROWING
Martien Aarts plants from early March to the end of July,
in the first few weeks 5cm pots, and then 4cm. He harvests
through October. With 9ha under cultivation he’s a small
grower, especially when you consider that some 3,000ha
is grown in the Netherlands alone.
Does this busy man in his fifties have ambitions for growth?
“Yes and no,” he says. “I enjoy the work, so I wouldn’t mind
having a couple more hectares. I sometimes say that as
long as I can still walk, I’ll grow broccoli. At the same time,
I’m happy with what I have now: I know what’s going on, I
can pay attention to my product and I produce good quality.
Grow my business or keep going on the same lines? That’s
what I’m trying to decide. If I choose the first, I would have
to get a packing machine. If it would pack at the same
speed that I can? Haha. I should hope so.”
< Bejo rep Pascal Staaks (left) with Martien Aarts.
38
“Malibu is a fast, strong, reliable variety.
It has a nice, compact, round closed head.”
Cropalyser
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That's bejo quality
07-09-16 11:55
bejo.com