The animation that we can now appreciate when opening the website www.novafruit.ca, which shows a sketch of our berry nursery through the four seasons, is the artwork of the Guatemalan artist Marcos Molina. Now, it’s up to you to choose your favourite season to come and visit us!

ANIMATION VIDEO :

The animation that we can now appreciate when opening the website www.novafruit.ca, which shows a sketch of our berry nursery through the four seasons, is the artwork of the Guatemalan artist Marcos Molina. Now, it’s up to you to choose your favourite season to come and visit us!

INITIAL DRAWINGS : (Remember that you need to be connected to Facebook to see these images!)

The production of strawberries and raspberries in the countries of the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) uses the world’s most advanced techniques and it is often from there that new horticultural trends start as much for production as for marketing. A small group of growers from Quebec made an exploratory trip to this region during autumn 2008.

Strawberry growing has greatly evolved over the past twenty years. Certain growing regions still remain very traditional and anchored in past values whereas other have taken a marked technological turn towards very intensive productions destined to mass markets. This movement has a repercussion on the marketing of local products with strong value-added, which permit growers to obtain a price directly related to the origin and the quality reputation. We received the kindest welcome from the Criée of Wépion team, which guided us through their industry and shared their knowledge and passion. This clock market commercialises 400 tons of strawberries per year with a network of 15 producers, compared to larger Criées who distribute more than 400 tons per day! Growing techniques used by this group are often in bare-ground though more and more members are taken a turn towards soilless. It was surprising to notice how growing strawberry plants on substrate had become a common practice among all the generations of growers.

In the Flemish region (North), we met much more intensive growers who massively use greenhouses and soilless crops in order to produce as long as possible strawberries of very high commercial quality destined to large distribution. We visited of Criée de Borgloon and of Hoogstraten, which commercialise, for several hundreds of producers, up to 400 tons of strawberries per day in a sale system with dial (inverted auction) . We were impressed with the rigorous classification based on the calibre (3 calibres) and the quality (5 quality levels) which is translated into a difference marked on the prices. The fruit batches arrive at the warehouse during the evening, they are inspected and classified, and in the morning, they are evaluated by the buyers and sold at the clock, often in less than an hour. Formerly, the clock face was a clock that rotated counterclockwise with a decreasing price until a buyer stops the clock to get the batch at the indicated price. Today, everything is computerised and the sales are made over the Internet but the larger buyers keep on coming to inspect the batches. This sale structure developed in Belgium and in the Netherlands since many years also exists in Canada, mainly in the flower domain. It enables to obtain the right price according to the quality of the fruit, which is determined by the market’s daily supply and demand.

Raspberries are grown mainly around the region of Tongeren, in the East of the country. Following the fast increase of growing superficies over the past years, the prices have recently dropped, making the crop not very profitable, which leaves the growers baffled as for the futur of the production. The techniques used are still very varied and each grower develops his own growing scheme. Some favour double-cropping varieties in long-lasting crops with a plantation in spring followed by a harvest in autumn, sometimes followed by a second harvest a spring depending on the stem’s ----. The non double-cropping varieties such as Tulament are generally grown from long canes that are conditioned and conserved in cold rooms, whether in pots or bare-root, and are forced at different moments of the year. These plants are often alternated with plants bred on an area of the nursery outside the high tunnels, which increases a lot the manipulation with respect to double-cropping varieties but enables to program the fruit harvest better. Finally, the blackberry bushes are bred on long canes over an area of the nursery and then conserved in cold rooms before being planted under shelters and forced at different moment of the year according to the market. It is common, with blackberry bushes as with strawberry plants, to move the planting of dormant plants in order to spread the harvest period..

Here are some pictures from this trip...(Rememberyo need to be connected to Facebook to see these pictures!)

Simon Parent was invited to give a conference about the perspectives and news in the strawberry production of Quebec on March 21st, day dedicated to horticulture, in Saint-Bruno-du-Lac-St-Jean.

The MAPAQ (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Quebec) regional direction of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean organised 10 days of regional agricultural conferences, which will take place from February 2nd until April 18th, 2012.

Simon Parent is invited to give a conference on strawberry growing systems in northern climates on March 28th 2012 during the Provincial Small Fruit Conference organised by the government of New Brunswick.

Since the year 2005, the Financière Agricole du Québec offers an excellence grant to new agricultural entrepreneurs for their professional aptitudes and their management qualities through the award “Turn towards excellence”.

For the 2006 version, the winner was Simon Parent from Novafruit.

A few years later, the Financière Agricole made a « retrospective » video in order to know what the winners of this award were up to. WATCH THE VIDEO:

Simon Parent is invited to give a course on strawberry production systems at the ITA (Food Processing Institute) of St-Hyacinthe on March 28th 2012 to agricultural producers.

"Novafruit, genetically innovative" is the title of the article of the Sring 2012 edition of Desjardin's agricultural magazine "Partenaires", in which Novafruit's trajectory and objectives are described. (in French)

Novafruit had the pleasure to present its first business stand at the Horticultural Conferences in St-Remi the past December 6th and 7th, where our new variety CLERY CIV® was exposed in fresh plug plants and trayplants. Its new specs sheet as well as little presents were also available... Thanks to all of you who came to see us!!

Another "Strawberries and Girafes" was organised by Novafruit on December 5th 2012 at the Granby Zoo. Nearly fourty participants attended a specialised and intensive training course on soilless strawberry and raspberry growing imparted by the nurseryman and grower JACQUES BERTRAND from Pépinières Martaillac in France.

This meeting allowed the participants to improve their comprehension of the different aspects of soilless growing, which is crucial in the context where thoses methods are in booming in Québec. Novafruit is proud to offer its clients as often as possible occasions to develop the knowledge and be informed on the the most recent developments and trends in the small fruits growing.

In order to make the event unforgettable and take advantage of the location's ambiance, an animal touch was opportune and we had the pleasure to be visited by two of the Zoo's ambassadors, the three bands armadillo and the barn owl. To complete the day, Novafruit offered to its guests a cocktail followed by a "highly esteemed" visit of the Granby Zoo's wings to meet the Himalaya Bear, the Tigre of Love and the turtles and sharks at the new South Pacific Pavilion.

Many thanks to our collegue and friend Jacques Bertrand from Pépinières Martaillac, as well as to all the participants and we hope to see you again at our next "Strawberries and Girafes" event!

The nurserymen Simon Parent from Novafruit (Québec) and Jacques Bertrand from Martaillac (France) presented a joint conference at the coloquium on large tunnels organized by Plastitech in Saint-Rémi last December 7th. In a question-answer format, the Quebecois nurseryman and the participants presented to the French nurseryman the problems encountered in our small fruit culture tests under large tunnels, and M. Jacques Bertrand explained to us how they dealt with thoses issues in France.

Novafruit was present at the annual meeting of the North American Strawberry Growers Association (NASGA) that was held from January the 27th until the 30th, jointly with the North American Raspeberry and Blackberry Association (NARBA) conferences. The meeting, which brought together 250 participants from all over North America, took place at the heart of one of the main berry production regions of the Unites States, in Portland, in the state of Oregon. We attended conferences of world-renowned researchers and visited the surroundings farms and the different strawberry and raspberry distribution networks.