Black currant farmers expect market balance

In the Netherlands, blackcurrant cultivation takes place exclusively in the vicinity of Heinkenszand on South Beveland, supplemented by two growers in Tholen and Halsteren. The area, which still covered 550 hectares in 2009, has decreased to 200 hectares. The blackcurrant growers have united themselves in two groups: the Cooperative Dutch Berry Growers, hereinafter referred to as the Cooperative, with fourteen members and 120 hectares, and MaVeBo, an abbreviation of Maatschap Vermue Boonman, with five members and 80 hectares. No successors 'Not only the acreage, but also the number of blackcurrant growers has fallen sharply,' says Lauran Vermue from Heinkenszand, who was secretary of the Cooperative for 17 years as a berry grower. "This had to do with the age of a number of our growers, who were between 65 and 70, but also with the low prices, which meant they couldn't find successors." According to Eric Boonman, berry grower and spokesman for MaVeBo, the age of their growers is ...