At Van Haperen in Prinsenbeek, the strawberries are picked early in the morning and a few hours later you can already buy them. You can't get them any fresher. "That's when they taste the best," says Rian van Haperen.

Strawberry cultivation runs in the blood of the Van Haperen family. "My husband Kees' father was also into strawberries. And his brother René has a strawberry farm in Rith near Princenhage," explains Rian. Kees and Rian started growing field strawberries at Overveldsestraat in 1990. "We only sell products that are grown and harvested on our own farm. On Saturdays, we sell directly in the barn, and on other days our customers can use our self-service vending machines."

“We have two different types of strawberries: Lusa and Elsanta. Elsanta is a tasty strawberry with a fresh, sweet taste and a light red colour, Lusa is a large dark sweet strawberry that you can pick early in the year. The advantage of growing two varieties is that we can have strawberries all year round.”

Everything they do not sell directly from their farm is delivered to distributor Aartsen in Breda. Strawberry farm Van Haperen is also a test company for raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries for fruit company Driscoll’s. “We harvest these from approximately mid-June to mid-October. Although in spring we often get asked: ‘Do you have any raspberries yet?’. Especially when the weather is nice, people crave them.”

Rian and Kees work with a team of young, enthusiastic pickers from the area. "Ninety percent of the people who work with us are from Prinsenbeek," says Rian. "It's so nice to see those boys and girls in action. It gives us energy. They really become close friends. Boys who worked here in 1992 are still friends to this day. And their children? They work with us again! Isn't that great?"

Overveldsestraat 18 Prinsenbeek
www.verseaardbeien.nl