"Organic production is much more challenging"

Grower Frank de Koning from the Dutch town of Brielle likes a challenge, which is why he has been focused on producing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and aubergines organically since 2000. The right varieties are crucial for him. The plant must be strong and resilient, and the fruits must be tasty and of top-class quality. The Kylie RZ and Angela RZ aubergine varieties meet those criteria.

“I used to work with traditional crop production methods but that didn’t give me enough job satisfaction. From a technical perspective, organic production is much more challenging. Rather than using chemicals and artificial fertiliser, we use compost, manure and natural enemies against pests. The open-field crops require substantial crop rotation, which is why we grow a wide diversity of fruiting vegetables in many different shapes and sizes – such as wild tomatoes, traditional cucumbers and striped aubergines. I have three facilities, amounting to 8.5 hectares in total. In fact, we’ve been a biodynamic farm for the past four years.”

Strong, resilient plants
“It’s even more important for us to choose the right variety than it is for traditional growers. Flavour is always more important than production, because organic consumers consciously opt for healthy and tasty food. And because they are also more likely to choose unusual shapes and colours, we have a varied product range. Besides that, we look for robust plants that are resilient to disease. Rijk Zwaan is one of the few seed producers that strongly supports organic varieties – thankfully, because we can’t survive without them. At Rijk Zwaan, they take a problem-solving approach to flavour, resilience and resistances. Their varieties are well aligned with the demands of the market, which is continuing to show steady growth.”

Firmer flesh
“Around half of our varieties come from Rijk Zwaan, such as the Kylie RZ and Angela RZ aubergine varieties. Kylie is an aubergine with an excellent flavour and quality. The strong green parts ensure that the aubergine remains fresh long after harvesting. It’s an open crop which is very easy to work with and productive too. To be honest it’s all pros and no cons. Angela is a striped aubergine that has both a distinctive colour and a distinctive taste. It’s a graffiti aubergine with slightly firmer flesh which means that it absorbs less oil during cooking. This variety has already proven itself in the market.”

Customers first, varieties second
“Before we choose a variety, we always make sure we have a customer for it. We sell all our products through Nautilus, a Dutch cooperative of organic growers. We agree with both them and the end customer how much of each product we should grow. Our customer base is mostly made up of retailers in Germany, the UK and Scandinavia, but we also sell to health food shops, foodservice chains and recipe box companies. We pack everything ourselves in line with customer requirements, either loose or in small units – and we do that three, four or even five times a week. That’s one of the biggest challenges for our company – keeping everything running smoothly to supply so many different products to all our customers week after week.”

For more information:
Rijk Zwaan
Burgemeester Crezéelaan 40
2678 KX De Lier
Netherlands
T +31 174 532 300
info@rijkzwaan.com
www.rijkzwaan.com