Growing Fruit

With over forty years of experience in the cultivation of fruit, this is the part that the company has started with. Our main focus is on the cultivation of pears and apples.

From the pruning to the picking, all the (cultivation) activities are carried out in-company. This ensures that the quality of the fruit remains perfect.
The area consists of more than 25 hectares of fruit spread over Houten and the surrounding area. More than half is pear trees and the rest apples, all in the single row plant system. As a result, all fruit is optimally allowed to grow and the harvest is more uniform in size and colour than in multiple row systems.

The sale of the harvest takes place – often after storing it for month’s at our own location – through our own office and through Dutch auction. This creates a good picture of the wishes of traders and our (end) consumer. We respond to this wherever possible.

Increasingly important here, is the desire of the (end) consumer to organize our business without burdening the environment, with an ecological footprint as small as possible. Without the use of natural resources the cultivation of fruit is not possible.

Examples of desires

Consumers want to eat apples and pears all year round. For this reason the delivery has to take place throughout the year. Cooling this much fruit costs energy. At Euro-Cool we take our responsibility and try to reduce our energy sonsumption by using only sustainable coolinginstallations. In 2015 we placed about 1000 solar collectors on our roof, to improve our level of self-sufficiency in energy.

For realising a harvest of the highest quality we protect the blossom against frost by spraying it with water. With advanced temperature measurement and predictive weather models we avoid unnecessary water wastage.

Fruit needs to be of good quality from the in- and the outside. Unfortunately achieving this still isn’t possible without the use of plant protection products. Euro-Cool uses them according to the strict framework of the Dutch Plant Treatment Products Act and the Dutch Biocide and Fertilisers Law and is always looking for sustainable alternatives.

It is not without a reason that we’re Globalgap-certified, which basically means that we maintain the standards of environment and food safety.

Back in the days, the most important competence of a cultivator was his ability to grow good quality fruit. Nowadays the cultivator is placed in the role of a well-educated manager, administrator, inspector and inventor. In other words, a cultivator is so much more than a cultivator.

Our company is well prepared for the future. We’re looking to the challenges ahead with great confidence. Not in the least because we expect succession within the family can be realized.