NL: New demo greenhouse for Westland Seeds

"We are, of course, a young company and our previous location worked fine for the first few years. But we noticed that that location began to age and it took a lot of measuring to place all varieties," says Iwan van Vliet. "Now we can we work in a neat, square greenhouse, where we can work much more systematically. Everything is automated. That certainly will improve the profitability."

The new location includes other greenhouses next to the demo. Research is being carried out, seed tests take place, parental lines are screened and also plain cultivation is done - to see how the demo varieties do it on a larger scale. Thanks to the better registration, the results are much more insightful. "You'll see straight away how and why varieties fail, and sometimes you'll come across a variety that actually performs above average unexpectedly."

In the demo greenhouse, there are of course the block peppers which Westland Seeds is internationally renowned for. They are found in all sizes and shapes. "We focus on resistance. If they do not have the right resistance, we will stop using them," says Iwan. "Red is of course the most important, but we have all sizes and colors."

Also the snack peppers are well represented. "There are already a number of growers working with the super snack, a snack pepper that actually almost does not taste like pepper, as it’s so sweet. But there are more strong products on the way, to enable us to shift the standard."

In the pointed peppers, Iwan sees opportunities for the 1440. "The right calibration with 100 grams, well-producing and a straighter product than the standard variety. You're looking for a thin-walled variant that still has a good shelf life."

The most important thing for the team is and remains the block pepper for the time being. "You'll find 500 crosses in the block segment, mostly red," Iwan reveals. Currently there are strong numbers in yellow (WLS 1225 and 1384-16). At Westland Seeds, they also see potential in variants like the red block 1206-16 ('With the required resistance, not reducing on production and with intense color) and the 1057-16 ('These look somewhat like the main variety, but are less hammered'). Now, we will see if these peppers will continue to do as well as Iwan expects. The requirements are strict. "We cannot concede on anything now. We aim to be the market leader in one color in five years. All of our efforts are leading into that direction."