Stephan and Yves Wolfcarius, with their fruit farm in West Flanders, are perceived as a pretty unique player, given that West Flanders is best known for its fruit production. The enthusiastic brothers are the third generation to lead the fruit company, with Stephan focusing particularly on the cultivation and Yves on trade. They grow mostly apples and pears on a total of 90 hectares. Stephan: "We have control over the entire chain. Wolfcarius cultivates, stores, packs and sells."
Year-round continuity
In ten years, the company's acreage has more than doubled. Yves explains that, two years ago, they made the decision to market their products themselves. "It has its advantages and disadvantages. We can now choose our markets, which on the one hand, is positive, but you also have to accept the risks attached to that market. We had to really broaden our horizons. Wolfcarius Fruit Supply is committed to the year-round supply to its clients of its 4 main varieties. "We want to keep everything under control and provide the best quality, therefore we sort and pack the products always ourselves."
Jonagold Novajo
The pear varieties that Wolfcarius grows are the Conference and the Doyenne du Comice. "As for apples, we have the Delbare Sissired, Jonagold Novajo and the Boskoop. In the past, we also grew a lot of Durondeau, but due to its susceptibility to fire blight we slowly abandoned it." The growers point out that they were looking for the best Jonagold variation for the Belgian market. "We finally chose the bicolour Novajo and our customers are satisfied with its colour and flavour. Our customers are mostly Belgian retailers, wholesalers and small store owners. We work with different exporters. Moreover, we sell a small part of the production at two fruit and vegetable stores of our own. We are always open to new partnerships."
You never have certainty
Despite the fact that Wolfcarius focuses strongly on the Belgian market, they saw themselves affected by the Russian boycott. "Traders still try to find new markets, so even at domestic levels you see the pressure on prices. The future is expected to be quite challenging, according to the brothers, especially for apples." Special varieties do well, yet it is a big step to switch to new varieties, as first of all, it takes a lot of time. Additionally, you must choose from a wide range of new varieties and be really confident about the variety you want to market. But you never have certainty in the top fruit business, there are always risks." The brothers conclude by saying that "our ambition is not to become the biggest, but to deliver quality. Everything we do, we want to do it well!"
