On 10 October 2019, Rijk Zwaan organised a customer event especially for cucumber growers from northern Europe. As the name of the event suggests, ‘All about Cucumbers’ was designed to update cucumber growers on the latest developments in terms of cucumber breeding, production and market trends, and to help them capitalise on new opportunities.
Around 150 growers travelled from across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Poland, Austria, Croatia, Bulgaria and Scandinavia to attend the event, which was held at Rijk Zwaan’s new facility in Fijnaart. A number of them visited the demo field for open-field crops in the morning, where a number of retail concepts were also presented in the canteen.
The official programme got underway in the afternoon, with John Coremans, Crop Manager Cucumber at Rijk Zwaan, kicking off the proceedings. He was followed by Arko van Brakel, who encouraged the attendees to approach the workshops in a critical frame of mind and to think in particular about how they could apply the information from the sessions to their own business situation. The workshops explored topics such as disease pressure, developments in the fresh chain, breeding techniques, seed quality and new production techniques. The growers also had the chance to go on a guided tour of the laboratory. With such a diverse programme of workshops to choose from, everyone was able to receive the very latest information about their particular areas of interest.
John Coremans comments: “The cucumber market is evolving. Our growers and partners need to anticipate the changes, and as Rijk Zwaan, we’re keen to help them by sharing our knowledge related to production, disease resistances and market intelligence. Sharing the expertise that is available within Rijk Zwaan with our partners helps us to grow stronger together and make better decisions for the future.”
Following the three rounds of workshops, Arko van Brakel brought the event to a close by urging everyone to drive his or her business forward. By providing them with new insights, Rijk Zwaan hopes to support the growers in this process and to face the future together.
For more information:
Rijk Zwaan
www.rijkzwaan.com