The raspberries for Swedish wholesaler Hebes Frukt & Grönt AB, supplied by family owned grower Hallongården, are produced in tunnels which protects them from the elements and has contributed to the high quality levels they are seeing this season. The grower also replaces their plants every year which ensures that they are able to produce larger sized berries. Growing the plants in pots not only makes weeding (which is done by hand) more manageable, but also reduces the risk of them developing diseases and makes it possible to limit the use of pesticides, being sprayed a maximum of twice per season.
"Our grower is a family company, in its eighth generation, which makes them very invested in their product and, as a result, they have won a lot of awards for flavour (gourmet prize). Along with fresh raspberries, they also offer products made from raspberries such as jams and lemonade." shared Anita Jansson from Hebes.
"This is one of the reasons why we include the grower information for supermarket customers, just like we do with our strawberries. It is nice to highlight the growers so customers can get to know them, they are a nice family and good at what they do and I think that they should know that and feel more connected to the product."
The family primarily grow the Glen Ample and the Polka variety, although they are always busy looking into cultivating new favourites for the future, along with their tried and true favourites. There are plans to trial the TulaMagic variety this fall.
Hallongården harvested a total of 25 tonnes last season and expect the amount to increase this year. The Swedish raspberry season lasts until the first frost, which is usually sometime in October.
Strawberries going strong
Strawberries still remain the favourite fruit for the summer season. There is slightly less volume this week after very high demand from Swedish consumers, with 7 million litres being sent out last week to the country's 9 million inhabitants (almost one box per Swede). There are still strawberries in the field and good production is expected to continue.
T
his coming weekend will bring in Strawberry Days, an event started a couple of years back by growers to celebrate everything strawberry. It was a bit slow to catch on, but Anita expects the amount of visitors to greatly increase this year. The event, held in different locations all across Sweden, the opportunity to taste different strawberry varieties, share favourite recipes, workshops, games and various activities for children. For
more information:Anita Jansson
Hebes Frukt & Grönt AB
Tel: +46 31 780 27 00
Fax: +46 31 19 33 28
Email: anita.jansson@hebe.se
www.hebe.se