“Have you noticed orange pumpkins in supermarkets are nearly always organic? That’s because pumpkins became big thanks to organic consumers,” says Jeroen Robbers, founder of organic production company De Terp. “They’re open to new products. Because pumpkin became popular among them, organic growers started specialising. When pumpkins also started becoming popular among regular consumers, the organic sector was able to scale up, so they’ve always been able to supply the market well. That’s why there’s hardly any conventional pumpkin production or trade in the Netherlands.”
When De Terp started with pumpkins in 1984, the product was still fairly unknown, but in 2018 it’s a promotion product that’s much in demand with supermarkets, particularly in the autumn period. The jump of the organic product from organic food shops to supermarkets was started 20 years ago. “At the time, Albert Heijn wanted to add a number of organic products to their shelves. It’s an appealing and noticeable product, and it managed to sell itself. Other supermarkets followed that trend,” Jeroen says. In recent years, Allerhande, the supermarket’s magazine, has also paid attention to it, which helps consumers become more familiar with the options of pumpkins. It can be boiled, made into soup, grilled, prepared in ovens, mashed, stir-fried or steamed.
De Terp has permanent contracts with Bakker Barendrecht, and imports and exports the pumpkins to European countries such as Germany, Italy, Slovenia, France and Belgium. The Dutch season lasts from late July to February, and the company then imports from Argentina and New Zealand, so that they can supply the market year-round. “We personally grow on 20 hectares, and in total we have a contract programme of 170 hectares, more than 100 hectares of which are grubbed up by us personally.”
Increased growth potential
The success of the pumpkin has resulted in the pumpkin area expanding. Jeroen doesn’t think that’s problematic. “The pumpkin market has grown enormously, and continues to grow, both in supermarkets and in trade. Last year, we had a surplus of pumpkins for the first time in years. Growing conditions were fantastic, so that 20 to 30 per cent more was produced than expected. Some growers will have suffered, but the market also managed to continue developing. New buyers continued with pumpkins longer, so the product was available for a longer period, and more consumers were given the chance to discover it. Potential increases because of that.”
To utilise that potential, a focus on quality is needed. “Quality of the pumpkins is difficult to establish from their appearance, particularly for laymen. Brix, firmness and/or starch measurements aren’t common for pumpkins, while those values tell you a lot about flavour and quality of the pumpkin, as do variety, production circumstances, origin and the climate it grew in. A lot of traders don’t realise this. They search for Hokkaido, but that’s not a variety. It’s the Japanese name that’s become synonymous in trade with all orange pumpkins. If it’s orange, they think it’s fine, and they’ll actually accept anything.”
To retain the potential of the pumpkins, more knowledge is needed according to Jeroen. “A few varieties emerged that perform badly regarding quality. That’s why it would be wise to improve now: what are we actually selling, which are the best varieties or origins of pumpkins, what sizes are best? Sometimes sizes are sold that are too small. Pumpkins have to be allowed to grow properly, so that they’re sufficiently ripe and mature.”
The Netherlands first in storage
Compared to other vegetables, pumpkins are fairly easy to grow. Storage and quality are a different story. “Over the years, we’ve developed a strong network of growers in which we exchange knowledge about cleaning, sorting and storing. We’re frontrunners in this. A lot of countries have their own product during the season, but we’re surprised the Netherlands is actually the only supplier outside of the season. After the German season, buyers in Germany switch to the Dutch stored product from around mid-December until February. After that we make sure to switch to the Southern Hemisphere and Southern European production, so that we can guarantee supply year-round.”
Besides the orange pumpkins, more varieties can be found on the shelves nowadays, and a variety like the butternut squash is hardly a speciality anymore. Because it’s difficult to grow qualitative butternut in the Netherlands, De Terp decided to expand with different varieties of pumpkin. “About 80 to 90 per cent of the production area consists of orange pumpkins. The remainder is specials, including the green, grey, spaghetti and miniature pumpkin. We’ve noticed the orange pumpkin is driven back a bit. There’s more choice now, but that doesn’t mean more kilos are sold. All in all, the market continues to grow steadily.”
De Terp differentiates between squash and winter squash. These are the varieties with the best flavour and shelf life within the pumpkin family.
