A Belgian fruit and vegetable company can produce specialty tomatoes all year round

In December last year, the Belgian fruit and vegetable company Den Berk Délice opened a new tomato cultivation plant in Merksplas, Belgium. Currently, the company is investing in a further expansion of 10 hectares of greenhouses, equipped with LED lighting fixtures, to produce tomatoes of the same taste and quality throughout the year.

Loes van der Velden of Den Berk Délice said that the company will add 10 hectares of new greenhouses in Rijkevorse. After that, the total area of specialty tomatoes will reach about 60 hectares, and there is room to expand to 70 hectares. The company's goal is not to be the biggest grower, but to grow the tastiest tomatoes. At the same time, the company hopes to be able to meet the needs of the market.

In the newly expanded 10-hectare greenhouse, Den Berk Délice uses LED lighting. Luc Beirinckx, co-manager of the company, said that thanks to LED artificial light sources, they were able to produce tomatoes in winter with the same taste and quality as in summer. Although the application of LED lighting requires a cost of 2.8 million euros, LEDs are energy-efficient light sources with high energy efficiency, which means that much less energy is required to achieve the same yield of tomatoes than before.

It is reported that Den Berk Délice's tomatoes are currently sold to all parts of Europe and a small number of regions outside Europe, most of which are concentrated in Belgium, Scandinavia (Peninsula) and Germany. In the future, the company intends to establish production sites in European regions outside of Belgium.