NL: Wing Trading innovates with turnip greens, purslane and living lettuce

Anyone who thinks that turnip greens and purslane are from grandmother's time has got it wrong. Pim van Wingerden from Wing Trading in Barendrecht: "For years it’s been thought that these vegetables are only eaten by the elderly, but if that were the case, consumption would’ve already stopped. These super foods fit perfectly into the healthy eating trend and are experiencing a real revival, for example, because they are being processed into smoothies."

Pim’s father has been growing various salad crops for a large Dutch supermarket chain with his company, Growing Healthy Vegetables, for years. Combining his business administration study at the Erasmus University with Wing Trading, Pim mainly provides customers at the nearby commercial center with purslane (pictured right) and turnip greens. "The aim for the coming years is to further expand sales. These products are still unknown for many consumers. Many growers grow these vegetables in a corner of the greenhouse, but I focus on them completely. And I see great possibilities of delivering the new turnip greens to vegetable processing companies, because they fit perfectly in salads."

At Wing Trading, the turnip greens season runs from mid-February until the summer. The purslane season is from April to late September. The cultivation of purslane is extremely short. Hardly any crop protection agents are allowed here, so you could call it semi-organic cultivation. With Philips the grower is now looking at possibly installing LED lighting in the greenhouse to extend the season as well as to improve quality. "A product like purslane needs a lot of sun and warmth. In the Netherlands we often have days with little light and high humidity. We hope to prevent the effects with LED lighting."

And the innovations at Wing Trading don’t end there. Pim recently acquired turnip greens seed from Japan, originally used for growing turnips. Unlike the common turnip greens in the Netherlands, these turnip greens contain a white nodule with the taste of radish. Pim: "We can use this to deliver a product with a distinctive presentation." According to the grower, the price of turnip greens remains relatively stable throughout the season, while the price of the 'old' purslane varieties may sometimes vary. They’re not products that you can leave out for a few days, and we want to be able to guarantee the quality of the products we sell at any given time."

Besides purslane and turnip greens cultivation, Wing Trading also grows Living Lettuce. "In the United States this potted lettuce is very popular and we expect this to be replicated on other continents. Through the so-called ebb and flow system the cultivation cycle lies between that of pot plants and lettuce on water. Currently we’re still conducting several tests, but we expect to provide our customers with this lettuce specialty in the future."