Blueberries are a big crop in the Netherlands. Concentrated mainly in the south of the country, Schrijnwerkers, one of the largest growers, harvests around 800t a season from two locations totalling 85ha. Harvested in July and August, the difficulty and cost (currently €18/hour) of recruiting the necessary pairs of seasonal hands to pick
these volumes was the main reason for the grower to purchase one of the first Harvy500s. “We need 220 people,” says operational director, Leon Schrijnwerkers. “This year we struggled to find 150.”