Jong Fruit has been supplying the national and international markets with the highest quality strawberries for many years. In 24 hectares of greenhouses, distributed over five locations in Dongen, Brabant, the strawberries are grown year-round. In 1990, director Rob van der Wouw joined the partnership, from which Jong Fruit emerged. Recently, he sold his stake to the Spanish company SurExport. Arian, the younger half-brother of Rob, remains a shareholder in the management.
Not so long ago, Jong Fruit decided to stop growing brambles and raspberries. Rob: “That turns out to be a difficult market, in which we were unable to find sufficient continuity. That’s why we have completely focused on strawberries. We now supply large volumes of strawberries year-round of constant, high quality. We do this by combining our own knowledge, data collected in-house, in-house developed techniques, and years of experience. We have also been using the coconut substrates from for decades to great satisfaction Legro.”
The relationship with Dorus began in the late Legro 1990s. Rob: “At that time, coconut was still being extensively grown on peat and turf. A good friend of mine was already convinced of the quality of coconut. He brought it to our attention, Legro and after some discussions and advice at the beginning of this century, we switched to the coconut from the coconut tree. Legro That was a special time, in which many pioneers were also active. Many stories circulated and there was a lot of experimentation with coconut substrates. We also took another trip, to steamed coconut, I believe, but that was not a success. We returned to and Legro never left again! Since Dorus Verhoeven started working there, Legro he has been our regular contact person.”
“Legro may be a large company, but it is still a family business, and you notice that in everything they do,” Rob explains. “Jong Fruit is a family business too, and I think our shared mentality, values and way of working form the foundation of our strong partnership. Everyone understands that nothing happens by itself and that it takes hard work to get things done. Especially when, like us, you want to keep as much as possible in-house. That means we need to be able to rely on our suppliers, and Legro understands that better than anyone. Even when there are supply issues, such as when the Suez Canal was blocked and international supply chains came to a standstill, Legro still managed to find a solution. It’s good to know you can rely on each other like that.”
“Growers can still learn from each other,” Rob continues. “That way we know that natural raw materials are never 100% identical. That can lead to challenges in achieving the trusted quality. In times of scarcity, they have developed Legro new mixes, for example coconut in combination with perlite. No matter how challenging the circumstances are, there is always a Legro solution! And they always do this in consultation with us. That’s important to me, because in order to keep the entire process from cultivation to harvest under control, we like to follow our own path. We are true perfectionists and leave nothing to chance.”
Dutch Dutch 
English 
French 
German 
Spanish 
Chinese