Thanks to LED lighting, this company can produce specialty tomatoes year-round

In December last year, the Belgian fruit and vegetable company Den Berk Délice built a new tomato cultivation plant in Merksplas, Belgium. Currently, the company is investing in a further expansion of 10 hectares of greenhouses equipped with LED lighting fixtures to produce tomatoes of the same taste and quality year-round.

Loes van der Velden of Den Berk Délice said that the company will add 10 hectares of new greenhouses in Rijkevorse. After that, the total area for specialty tomatoes will reach about 60 hectares, and there is still room to expand to 70 hectares. The company's goal is not to be the largest grower, but to cultivate the most delicious tomatoes. At the same time, the company hopes to meet the needs of the market.

In the newly expanded 10-hectare greenhouse, Den Berk Délice uses LED lighting. Luc Beirinckx, co-manager of the company, said that thanks to LED artificial light sources, they are able to produce tomatoes in winter with the same taste and quality as in summer. Although the application of LED lighting requires a cost of 2.8 million euros, LEDs are energy-saving light sources with high energy efficiency, which means that achieving the same yield of tomatoes requires much less energy than before.

It is reported that Den Berk Délice’s tomatoes are currently sold throughout Europe and a small number of regions outside Europe, with most of them concentrated in Belgium, Scandinavia (Peninsula) and the German market. In the future, the company intends to establish production sites in Europe outside Belgium.