The latest data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) shows that the area of protected vegetable cropping for the top four edible greenhouse crops – tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and aubergines – has continued to decline.
Production has declined since peaking in 2021, and in 2023 stood at 4,100 ha., a level that was still 10 per cent higher than a decade ago (2013). 43 per cent of the area was taken up by tomatoes (1,771 ha), with 34 per cent used for pepper production (1,555 ha) and the rest split between cucumber (655 ha) and aubergines (123 ha).
However, while the overall area of greenhouse vegetables is higher than in 2013, the number of growers has fallen by almost a third (29 per cent) in that time to 625. The largest drop was in the number of tomato growers, particularly vine tomatoes (which fell 50 per cent), although the number of cherry tomato growers has tripled.
Overall production across all four crops remain fairly static at 1.63 million tonnes – having fallen slightly since peaking in 2020. Overall production volumes fell two per cent last year, although cucumbers bucked the trend with a 7 per cent increase – partly due to some tomato growers switching to cucumber production to try to reduce energy costs.
