"Last year, it was still a bit of trial and error"

At Kwekerij Demedts - De Mey in Belgium, the apricot season has begun once again. This fruit, typically associated with southern Europe, is gaining popularity among Flemish growers. "There's growing interest in cultivating it, so we try to stand out with our product. This year, we decided to thin the trees a bit more to achieve better fruit size. That worked out well," says Benoit Demedts of the Gits-based nursery.

"Last year, it was still a bit of trial and error," explains the grower, who specialises in strawberries and cherries but decided to take the plunge. "This year, however, we can already draw more from last year's experience. Outdoors, it's been successful, and the fruit looks promising indoors as well. We do the same with cherries. You want to stand out in terms of size and quality, so the trees shouldn't carry too much fruit. The result is that we can offer nice calibres."

And is there good demand? "Yes, there is, though it's different from cherries, of course," Benoit continues. "With cherries, people travel far and wide to get the first volumes. They're also willing to pay a lot more for them. Apricots fit nicely into our segment, but the audience is a bit smaller." The grower expects to continue harvesting the apricots until the end of July. "It lasts just under a month, but that's fine. People start going on holiday around then, and things quiet down for us, so it's good to finish around that time."

Blackberries and raspberries
© Benoit DemedtsBesides apricots and, of course, strawberries, he's also busy with other soft fruits. "Raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, and a few gooseberries. It's been busy over the past few weeks due to high production. Fortunately, demand has kept up, so it's been a good season. We've especially noticed strong interest in blackberries from our customers. We might need to expand next year to keep up with demand. At times, we've even had shortages, but that's normal in the early stages."

The big favourite among the nursery's customers is the Sweet Royalla blackberry. "It's the first year we've had this variety, but it's clear people really want it. I didn't expect demand to be this high, but we're certainly not complaining. We always try to let them ripen fully for the best flavour. We've been growing raspberries for several years now—that market also runs smoothly—but blackberries are a bit easier to grow. You can even leave them hanging for a day, no problem." Benoit expects the blackberry and raspberry season to continue through October. "That will depend on the weather, of course. If it gets cold, it could end earlier. But in any case, we'll be around for a while."

There are no complaints about price levels either. "Prices are solid across all varieties. From strawberries to the various berries, everything is performing well. We had a production dip in strawberries a little while ago, but that recovered last week. It's only in the vegetables that things are less favourable, cauliflowers, potatoes, and so on. That's not a large part of our business, percentage-wise, but it's more challenging. Especially with early potatoes, everything is at its peak. They were very good, but before we started, it turned out there was already plenty of volume, maybe even too much, so prices there are lower than we had hoped."

For more information:
Benoit Demedts
Kwekerij Demedts - De Mey
Middenstraat 97z
8830 Gits, Belgium
Tel: +32 479 69 08 67
benoitdemedts@gmail.com
www.demedts-demey.be