At the beginning of September 2021, bioverita started a collaboration with Gut Wulfsdorf for the direct marketing of organically grown vegetables. This diverse company with 360 hectares of land is located in Ahrensburg, about 40 km from downtown Hamburg.
It has been managed by the Lutz family since 1989 according to Demeter guidelines. In addition to farmland and grassland, they keep a lot of animals including suckler cows, grass-fed cattle, fattening pigs and, in summer, geese.
Breeding alongside working a farm
On the grounds of Gut Wulfsdorf, breeding research and conservation breeding take place parallel to vegetable cultivation. The Kultursaat breeder Christina Henatsch has lived here since 2003. Supported by Marina Harmsen, she has already registered several of her own varieties. These include the Fine and Solvita carrot varieties, Lucinde lettuce, colored chard varieties and Rasmus broccoli, all of which are bioverita-certified.
There is also a close exchange with the Saat:gut e.V. initiative near Schleswig. The initiative also develops organic varieties that are particularly suitable for locations in northern Germany. Due to the proximity to the breeding program, the nursery can also cultivate vegetables that are not yet registered but are particularly well adapted to the site.
Direct marketing as a special opportunity
The vegetables from Gut Wulfsdorf are mainly sold in their own farm shop and at weekly markets. There are also external customers, in particular the “Green Box” subscription scheme and the organic wholesalers Grell Naturkost and Naturkost Nord. Gut Wulfsdorf is a valuable partner for bioverita, since direct marketing offers special potential for communication.
The cultivation of pure line varieties has been a top priority here from the very beginning and it has always been important to the team to promote the issue of seed and variety origin among customers. The range includes both old open pollinated varieties and new ones from organic breeding, each of which is labeled clearly. Labeling varieties from organic breeding with the bioverita quality label is a further step in raising awareness.
Talking about organic breeding
At the start of the marketing partnership, online training was organized for the employees of the shop and the markets, where Anna-Lena May presented the aims of bioverita and Marina Harmsen reported on their breeding activities. Gut Wulfsdorf then provided information about bioverita and organic breeding in its newsletter. This also included explaining that varieties from organic breeding show certain differences compared to high-performance hybrid varieties.
For example, they tend to be more inconsistent in length, unit weight, and shape. At the same time, these varieties are more resistant to diseases and usually have more flavor. The certified varieties are clearly labeled in the product lists and marked with the bioverita logo in the farm shop. (see photo).
Organic from breeding to the end product
With the market partnership, Gut Wulfsdorf wants to underline the importance of “Organic right from the start” and is very motivated to further expand the proportion of pure line varieties in their range. At the entrance to the farm, a weatherproof banner with the bioverita motto “Organic from breeding to the end product” is clearly visible to anyone passing by.
In this way, all visitors are made aware of the farm’s motto.
We thank Gut Wulfsdorf for their great commitment and this very visible statement!
Photocredits: Gut Wulfsdorf, Chard: Bingenheimer Saatgut AG