At Biologische Tuinderij De Waog in Neer, the sweet potato harvest is in full swing. Owner Joep van de Bool expects a total gross yield of over a thousand tonnes this year. This is a positive outlook, especially considering the earlier challenges with planting material.
© Biologische Tuinderij De Waog
30% less planting material
"It was difficult to get enough planting material this year," Joep says. "This is because in Portugal and Spain, where our planting material comes from, the weather conditions were quite poor earlier this year, causing considerable shortages. We had to make do with about 30% less planting material. We partly solved this by planting a bit wider apart, hoping this would allow the tubers to grow larger. Now that harvesting has started, we will soon find out whether that worked out!"
New varieties
De Waog has been working with varieties from Louisiana in the U.S. since 2014, which arrive in the Netherlands via Portugal. A relative newcomer this year is a purple-fleshed sweet potato. After a successful small-scale trial last year, Joep has devoted a slightly larger area to this new variety this season. "It looks promising," he says. "Earlier purple varieties were often more irregular in shape and not always productive. But this new variety seems to be a real improvement."
Long storage time
Joep also still has sweet potatoes from the 2024 crop in storage. "We can store them for well over a year. Last year, we invested a lot in preservation, and I think even a year and a half is theoretically possible," says Joep. But he does not expect it to come to that this year. "At the moment, there are still about 10–15 tonnes from 2024 in the shed, and that is just enough to bridge the gap to the new harvest. This is the first time we have been able to supply our customers with year-round orange sweet potatoes!"
Sales and competition
Most of the harvest goes to organic wholesalers in the Netherlands. "For our customers, it is important that they can say: We sell Dutch sweet potatoes, without imports from Egypt or the U.S. Local cultivation means fewer transport kilometres and therefore lower CO₂ emissions. Of course, this fits perfectly with the expectations of the organic consumer. In addition, we wash and sort on demand, which naturally improves shelf life on the shop shelf."
Joep hardly experiences competition from other Dutch growers: "Everyone has their own market. The real competition comes from abroad, especially on price. To be honest, we cannot compete with that. That's why we focus on quality, shelf life, and reliability. And on the sustainability of local cultivation. That is where we make the difference."
Biggest growth is abroad
Demand for organic sweet potatoes in the Netherlands is still growing, but Joep says it is levelling off somewhat. "The biggest growth seems to be over by now. We already supply 90–95% of the natural food channels in the Netherlands. So we are mainly looking for our growth abroad. Recently, we have seen many temporary customers turning into regular ones. So there is still some growth potential there."
In terms of innovation, Joep is currently focusing mainly on other colour ranges: from white and purple-fleshed tubers to extra-sweet orange varieties. He also wants to further optimise the sorting and washing process. "I love innovating and being able to take another step forward each time," he explains. "Sweet potatoes are still a relatively new crop here in the Netherlands, and it's exactly that innovation that makes it so much fun."
For more information:
Joep van de Bool
Biologische Tuinderij De Waog
Tel: +31 (0) 6 46032061
[email protected]
https://dewaog.nl/