Good Crop full of flavour, full of value
WHAT?
Good Crop, Plukgoed in Dutch is an apple concept aiming at letting you taste apples at their full flavour potential. We do this by stimulating apple farmers to harvest these apples at the right time. This means that they leave the apples in the tree for longer than usual, and taste them daily to decide the right time to harvest.
The taste of an apple does not depend on its size, but on the moment it’s harvested, stored and transported. Good Crop apples are special: bright red, yellow or large. Every apple is unique and delicious. We are proud of THE apples of Dutch origin.
WHY? At first glance in the supermarket, all apples of the same kind look very similar. If you examine the apples on offer, you may find small differences. Minimal variety in colour and size. The occasional tiny scratch. What’s the deal with that? How is it possible that the apple tree is full of apples that vary a lot more? What happens to apples that are not destined for the supermarket? What are the characteristics of these apples? The apples we buy at the supermarket are sorted by size and hardness. A crisp apple with a nice red blush that fits perfectly in your hand. Which is more important: what the apple looks like or its flavour?
Good Crop is wary of wastage, appreciates the variety in shapes, colours and races and offers a fantastic apple full of FLAVOUR!
An apple is a seasonal product, but it is harvested for storage. After all, we eat apples throughout the year. The harvest has three cycles. The first harvest starts as soon as the apple contains enough sugars. These apples can be stored for a long time. The second harvest provides a little more flavour, but these apples can’t be stored as long as the first harvest apples. The apples that are still on the tree after the second harvest are ripe for the third harvest!
What is so special about the third harvest? Third harvest apples are the absolute best in terms of flavour. However, storing these apples is difficult, which makes the third harvest unappealing for supermarkets. This is the reason that many apples farmers consider not even harvesting these apples. That means that a large portion of these apples is never used for consumption, but is left to deteriorate into compost.
A shame? Absolutely! Because Good Crop apples are full of flavour. Naturally ripened on the tree. An entire summer on a branch in the sun to come to full flavour.
We presented Plukgoed at the DDW in Eindhoven. Many enthusiastic people want to be informed about the development of this project. An foto impression of this week by Jaap Groen.
graphic design: Gravue
Plukgoed is a foodheroes project.