'Limited availability for Belgian and Dutch tomatoes'
Belgian and Dutch offers formed the basis of the tomato assortment. Their availability was limited overall. Local products, on the other hand, gained in importance. Italy contributed only cherry

"Low European yields could benefit Belgian pears"
For the new season, the Belgian pear situation looks good so far. During the recent Interpera, preliminary estimates were announced, which predict the second-lowest pear harvest at the European

"Forward thinking, cooperation central to sustainability talks"
Belgian potato, vegetable, and fruit traders and representatives from the processing sector gathered on Tuesday, 27 June, for Fresh Trade Belgium, Belgapom, and Vegebe's annual FVPhouse event.

Belgium: Colruyt sells Flemish Charentais melons from the greenhouse
The Belgian Colruyt Group no longer wants to source its Charentais melons from France, according to a report by vilt.be, but is starting a trial this year with the fruit from a Flemish greenhouse.

"35% fewer Dutch and Belgian cherries expected"
For two weeks now, tasty cherries have been back in farm stalls along country roads in the Netherlands. "They're of outstanding quality this year, but there are fewer kilos. That's due to frost

Belgium: BelOrta starts the new cherry season
"Belgian cherry lovers have had to wait a while, but they have recently become available again," says the leading Belgian fruit and vegetable supplier BelOrta. "Due to the cold weather in spring,

BelOrta becomes Belgian fruit leader too
With the integration of BFV as of July 1st, the fruit offering of the leading Belgian organisation is estimated this season at around 200,000 tons of pears, 75,000 tons of apple, 13,000 tons of

"Belgian tomato prices under pressure, but those of eggplant and cucumber rebound"
The Belgian greenhouse vegetable season is in full swing at importer/exporter, Fresh Food. During the winter, this Belgian company focuses mainly on imports from Southern Europe and Morocco, but

Belgian tomato prices rebound
In Belgium, loose and vine tomatoes' median prices rebounded last week. That, thus, halted the recent week's steady decline, as evidenced by VBT figures. As the year's longest day approaches, the

Belgian organic grower expands cautiously: "There was only slightly more, but it was hard to sell”
"There's always more demand for organic cucumbers than we can supply," organic grower Koen van Hauteghem of Vitaetom stated last fall. During a visit - at the invitation of VLAM, Flanders'

BelOrta sells first locally grown blueberries of 2023
Albert and Maarten Royakkers from Kinrooi grew the Duke variety berries, which were bought by Fangio Winckels, the person responsible for purchasing Belgian fruit at Bouvry NV. With this

"We have never had to commit so many organic pears so early for next season"
Whereas Belgian organic apples are still having a tough time toward the end of the season, organic pears are already in particularly high demand. "We have never had to commit so much volume so

"Keeping an eye on each challenge so growers don't become numbers"
Belgium has always been a country of cooperatives. Names like BelOrta, Coöperatie Hoogstraten, LTV, REO Veiling, and BFV ensure that supply has become increasingly centralized in recent years.

Senegal: BelOrta on an African export mission
Recently, several Belgian companies, including leading fruit and vegetable marketer BelOrta, took part in a business mission to Senegal led by Princess Astrid. BelOrta mainly explored new

Penny Italia has concluded the acquisition of 16 stores
Still getting 5 a day? High prices force Belgians to buy less fruit and veg A quarter of all Belgians now buy less fruit and vegetables compared to this time last year, as soaring food prices and

"Flemish agriculture has been written off before, but always rallies, thanks to strong foundation"
On Tuesday, May 24, prominent Flemish agriculture and horticulture figures gathered in Belgium. It was the Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives Federation (VBT) and the Producer Organizations'

"Delays in Europe and Spain's problems mean high demand for Belgian and Dutch strawberries"
In Belgium, Coöperatie Hoogstraten's strawberry production is currently switching between different cultivation systems. "It's nice that we've started again; the cultivation systems are merging

"Despite far lower volumes, the new kiwi crop has better quality"
The first new New Zealand Zespri kiwis began arriving at the Belgian Port of Zeebrugge at the start of this month. Zespri had a tough 2022 with many quality issues, but they are optimistic about

"Kaki still the most popular persimmon variety, but Sharon fruit has won some ground recently"
The new South African Sharon fruit season has begun at Special Fruit. This Belgian importer started working with Sharon fruit several years after the company was founded. "South Africa's crop is

'Colorful salads predominantly originated in Germany'
In the case of iceberg lettuce, Spanish offers could be accessed almost exclusively, domestic supply flanked them with only very small quantities. According to the BLE, availability had become

"New Belgian apple crop's delayed start seems to be keeping market in its grip"
The upcoming Belgian apple season's expected delayed start is causing excitement on the market. "We've recently concluded that a shortage is coming. It's still real 'apple weather', so consumption

"Belgian pear season exceeds all expectations"
This year's Belgian pear season has exceeded all expectations. "We had high hopes last season because of the small harvest, but things went wrong because of the Ukraine situation. There were

"Start of West African mango season putting peak pressure on cold storage"
It is currently the busiest time of year at Luik Natie. Every week, this Belgian storage and transshipment company processes more than 200 containers of products, including bananas, mangoes, and

Belgium: Flemings prefer local products
When Belgians buy fresh food, they do so primarily on the basis of price and sensory perception. Half of Belgians also value the country of origin and prefer home-grown products. However, these do

"Bad weather hindering Spanish stone fruit sales"
Van Dijk Foods has had Spanish stone fruit for three weeks now. "That's when the first supply from the south of Spain arrived, and the fruit looks good. The warm Spanish weather means the stone