The finest tomatoes from Den Berk Délice

This is all started in 2014 when these four top growers from Belgium decided to join forces. The goal was to combine their experience, knowledge and expertise in order to then enter the market together. It gave them the space to both scale up and specialize. We can definitely claim that this collaboration has been an enormous success.

Each board member has his or her own expertise. One is in cultivation, the other more in finance, and so on. In this way they reinforce each other in their growth to become the largest tomato grower in Belgium.

Thanks to their shared experience and conducting various studies on, for example, consumer-oriented concepts and packaging, they are a highly professional partner for retail. Together they try to fill in the gaps in the assortment, in order to go for the optimal performance, in cooperation with the retail. 

We believe in sustainable growing and the IIVO helps us with that. With the use of data, we can increase taste and production with less use of natural resources.

Data Driven Management

Consumers that enjoy their range of high quality tomatoes is what Den Berk Délice is so pleased about. Taste is more important than mass. The IIVO supports them in this. The technology gives them more insight. For example, by looking ahead at weather forecasts and cultivation based on Data Driven Management, they, as growers, can make better decisions. This benefits their crops.

The growers are especially pleased with the clear overviews and the simple way of creating a growing policy. Weather forecasts can easily be used in the cultivation strategy and can be viewed wherever you are in the world.

"We believe in sustainable growing and the IIVO helps us with that. With the use of data, we can increase taste and production with less use of natural resources," says Koen Lauwerysen, Director of Den Berk Délice.

At Den Berk Délice they are working full steam ahead with innovation. They are fully committed to robotization and Data Driven Management. "At the moment we are not quite there yet, but we are preparing our organization for the future. Within five years, Data Driven Growing will take over a large part of horticulture. I think the combination of people and technology will be a great success," concludes Koen Lauwerysen.

Also at Den Berk Délice, growing according to the Plant Empowerment principles has been introduced. As a result, the Belgian tomato producer has already implemented a number of changes and is already experiencing numerous benefits.

They have a higher production, the product has a much better quality and they also use less natural resources.

The shared experience and expertise of its owners and their growers, combined with the support from IIVO and growing by the principles of Plant Empowerment, will take Den Berk Délice towards a sustainable future.

Source and Photo Courtesy of IIVO

Source: IIVO