Fruit Masters, the Dutch soft fruit grower marketing organisation, has opened a new packhouse at Geldermalsen to allow a faster reaction to supermarket requirements. As the glasshouse season gets under way it is planning, together with open field crops, to handle 4,000 tonnes of strawberries, a 25% increase on last year.
Apart from Dutch fruit it will also be sourcing in Germany, Holland and, out of season, Kenya, allowing year-round operation. Meanwhile improved weather conditions have brought the Spanish season back to a peak while English glasshouse crops begin to build.
High temperatures have also increased the earliness of the protected raspberry crop. Initial UK pickings may only be a fortnight away. l Marks and Spencer is sponsoring a Jewels of Summer recipe book as part of the seasonal launch planned by National Summer Fruits on 28 May.
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