Sustainability is getting more and more attention in horticulture. Brothers Jacob and Klaas van den Belt also see a major shift towards sustainable business. In the Koekoekspolder, the horticultural area of IJsselmuiden, they have been growing the tastiest tomatoes for more than 20 years. Available, of course, in the HANOS range:
Diversity of varieties is one of the most important things Van den Belt focuses on. Flavour and quality always come first. Of course they grow the well-known vine tomato and loose tomatoes, but for a few years now they have been focusing more on new, innovative varieties such as the Intense tomato. Tomatoes come in many types and variations, and that is what makes them such a great product.
20 years ago, growers made a shift towards sustainable cultivation. Before that, the flowers in the greenhouse were pollinated by hand. Today, nature does the work with bumblebees and bees. These hard workers do the job much better, which is why it is also important to do the very best for the bumblebees and bees. These little creatures are very sensitive to crop protection products. Van den Belt therefore looked for a way to grow with as few crop protection products as possible. This means that almost no chemical crop protection products are used any more. Pests are mainly controlled with natural enemies such as parasitic wasps and predatory mites.
