The organic beetroot is on the rise. In 2017, nearly half the total production of red beets in the Netherlands was organic. “However, conventional beets are also grown in a very natural way, and that’s actually never mentioned,” says Maikel Stam of Stam-Schaap Agro in Ursem, the Netherlands. The company is specialised in the production of red beets and invests in growing naturally and environmentally friendly. The increase in organic isn’t at the expense of conventional, according to Maikel. “I definitely don’t see that happening, environmentally friendly and organic production is often quite similar.”

Beets are part of the health trend that’s also on the rise within the fresh produce segment. “We’ve noticed that when you always supply a good and tasty product to your customers, this will result in new demand. They’re proper health bombs, something many consumers appreciate. You can’t argue about flavour, but they actually are delicious,” Maikel says, enthusiastically.

The colour of the beets means they do well in photographs, consumers inspire each other with recipes on social media, and beets do particularly well in salads and as carpaccio. Combined with yellow beets, the pictures look even better. “The coloured beets are a trend that can be seen to grow, but it’s a small market,” Maikel continues.

The increased demand for beets has resulted in a slight increase in the area, but it’s still a small market that fills up quickly due to overproduction. Schaap-Stam Agro BV has buyers in the Netherlands, and they export a lot to Eastern Europe. They’re seeing a slight growth in this, but export is very dependent on weather circumstances.

Stam-Schaap Agro has year-round production, storage, processing and sales of red beets. They’re currently harvesting for direct sales. The early beets were somewhat affected by the dry weather circumstances. “Growing delays have occurred particularly in regions without water or wher the water quality wasn’t sufficient for irrigation, but nature can quickly catch up again thanks to the weather of the past week. We’re satisfied with the season so far. Volumes aren’t quite there yet, but that’s compensated by prices.”

A lot is still uncertain for the storage beets. “The past season was very fickle, and we had to work hard to get rid of everything, and quality wasn’t as good as in previous years. Yet we managed to supply year-round, and the new beets arrived in time again this year. I don’t see any problems right now, but it all depends on the next two months.”

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