Limburg growers see bread in soft fruit tourism

Noord Limburg growers of soft fruit increasingly want to use their products as a tourist activity or for day trips.

In part for this purpose, the Berry Brilliant Foundation has been set up, a group of growers who want to turn the theme park Aardbeienland in Horst into a center for all soft fruit from North Limburg.

Residence

North Limburg is home to about 70 percent of the Dutch soft fruit sector," says Evi Timmermans of Aardbeienland. "Then you're talking about strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or mirabelles, for example. Aardbeienland as a theme park was somewhat accommodating, but we have made a go-around and want to expand it further."

Central location

The growth of Aardbeienland in Horst is not just about the theme park. For example, a research institute has already been established there to support growers with innovations. The global institute Delphy has established a location for specific research on soft fruits next to Aardbeienland. "So there is another series of partners. We want to become a central place where people in the sector can meet and further develop this market," says Timmermans.

Tourism and recreation

So in addition to their role as fruit suppliers, growers are seeing more and more opportunities that tourism and recreation offer for the fruit sector. According to the agritourism platform, some 200 growers in North Limburg are now active in that sector. There are blueberry cycling routes, you can picnic at the farmer's and pick your own fruit, for example.

Necessity

"We started it last year out of necessity," says fruit farmer Susanne Görtz. "Because of corona we could not get rid of our mirabelles. We then said: come and pick them. The response was so enthusiastic that people already called us in the spring to ask if there would be another mirabelle picking day this year. So we organized it. It was a great atmosphere, a real day out on the land for the people. As a grower you can share your love for your product," says Susanne, while another eighty kilos of sold mirabelles are on the scales.

Source: 1limburg