Family Aarts

The Aarts family and the company ’t Bleekerven have been growing cucumbers for several generations. Peter Aarts and his brothers took over the business from their father. Later, Peter bought one of his brother’s plots of land and, over the years, expanded his greenhouse area to 11 hectares. After many expansions in the past, the Aarts family is now mainly focused on optimising production of their current crops.

Next generation

Peter’s son Tijn has now been working in the business for over a year. He will take over the company in the future. Tijn is a young and ambitious entrepreneur who would love to encourage more young people to work in the agricultural sector. “There’s often still a negative perception of growers, because people don’t always understand what we actually do,” says Tijn. He wants to change that by raising awareness that it involves much more than just manual labour.

Besides growing cucumbers in summer, the Aarts family also grows Prince tomatoes in winter. “The best part of the growing process is planting and watching the crop grow,” says Tijn. “The cucumber season is busier than the tomato season because cucumbers need daily care, whereas tomatoes follow a slightly more relaxed schedule.” One big advantage of growing tomatoes is that you still get a chance to take a holiday.

In his free time, Tijn enjoys sports — he plays competitive football and goes to the gym.

A few years ago, the Aarts family decided to partner with BelOrta, and they’re very happy with the cooperation, especially the communication with the BelOrta team.

Tip

“We have cucumber with almost every meal,” Tijn laughs. “Cucumber is always great in a salad because it adds that nice crunch.” He also shares a tip: “Although most people eat cucumber cold, cucumber soup is really tasty too.”