Entrepreneurship is something Marcel Dings was brought up on. The Dings family had a farm, animals and farm store. When their neighbor sold his greenhouse 25 years ago, they embarked on a new adventure in addition to all the business they already had.
Focus on strawberries
Entrepreneurship is something Marcel Dings was brought up on. The Dings family had a farm, animals and farm store. When their neighbor sold his greenhouse 25 years ago, they embarked on a new adventure in addition to all the business they already had.
Not every crop was suitable for growing in this greenhouse. Marcel therefore started researching and ended up with a then emerging crop; strawberries! This worked out so well, that starting in 2006, the focus of the business was solely on strawberries. The company Brookberries was a fact. Brookberries is a member of the growers' association Fossa Eugenia which sells the strawberries.
Customer-oriented cultivation
It is fair to say that Brookberries is a true strawberry specialist. By specializing on strawberries, Brookberries' knowledge and experience has become very great, that they have focused on making the quality of strawberries better and better. In addition, the company has scaled up from 11,000m2 to 300,000m2. With the new generation of family members on the rise, you could say that they continue to develop continuously. For the future they are also looking at growing crops for the medicinal sector and growing with only organic crop protection.
Every customer understands quality in a different way; taste, color, size, shape, shelf life or a combination thereof. The goal of Brookberries is to grow in a customer-oriented way. They listen carefully to what the relations want and make every effort to produce the quality the customer expects.
The best quality strawberries
In the coming years Brookberries will continue to develop in order to continue to supply the best quality strawberries. In addition, they have been making the company more sustainable for years. Think of heating via geothermal heat. Unfortunately, because of the fickle Dutch government, this is quite a challenge. But Brookberries loves challenges and remains committed to making Dutch greenhouse farming more sustainable.
Prepared for the future
Brookberries is moving with the times and is progressive. Much of the business process is driven by data. Think of the weather forecast, orders, but they are also experimenting with picking robots. Still, in the short term, they will not switch completely to an AI-driven business. They still believe in the added value of humans.
A special bond between Brookberries and Blue Bite
The cooperation with Blue Bite from BE Fresh came about in 2013 through contact with Gerrit Bergwerff who was looking for the very best strawberries for the market in Japan. Meanwhile, the Blue Bite strawberries for the Japanese market are the pride of Brookberries and the open and honest cooperation can also be described as a friendship. The specific customer requirements is a challenge for the strawberry specialist that they have mastered well. The challenge of growing for the upper end of the market suits Brookberries' vision and working method.
Tips from Brookberries
Marcel Dings' tip to you. Order a delicious strawberry coupe for dessert and, as a consumer, demand more flavor from strawberries at the supermarket. These often leave much to be desired. It is and remains a natural product where the taste depends on the weather. Choose quality and not quantity!
