Family Joosen

Wim Joosen is an ambitious grower who grew up in a farming family in Brecht. His grandparents were already active in the sector, and the original business was set up by Wim’s parents in 1972. Wim’s father passed away at a young age, which meant Wim got involved in the business early on. You’ll still often see Wim’s mother and brother around the farm.

Wim specialises in growing cucumbers and blackberries. His responsibilities include supervising the staff, checking the climate and irrigation in the greenhouses, answering questions from the authorities and purchasing supplies, packaging, machinery and spare parts. He can also count on around eight permanent employees and roughly 35 seasonal workers, mainly from Romania, to bring the very best products to market.

Looking ahead, Wim plans to continue focusing on cucumbers and blackberries. In the long term, he’s not ruling out expanding his range of products — exciting times ahead!

We’ll wrap up with a tip from Wim: Looking for the best cucumbers? Try the smaller ones — they taste better and are crunchier! Never pick an old yellow cucumber. The stem end should always be green. If it’s yellow, the cucumber is past its best.