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In 1970, father Jan Zwinkels began as a pioneer by cultivating courgettes in a greenhouse, creating the foundation for Courgette Kwekerij Zwinkels. The family business, where the passion and knowledge for growing courgettes were ingrained from generation to generation. Currently, the third generation is passionately involved in the company.
Initially, only green and yellow courgettes were produced. In 1997, a specialty was added to the product range: the cultivation of the edible flower of the courgette, the Courgette Fleur. This addition not only introduced a very special product but also brought a completely different vision to the company. A specialty market was tapped into, marking the beginning of the future form of CourgetteFleur Zwinkels.
In the following years, CourgetteFleur Zwinkels increasingly focused on the cultivation, packaging, development, and optimization of courgette specialties. With much passion and pride, the product range now includes mini and midi courgettes, Fioretta, and Primo Fiore.
A great deal of attention is devoted to the cultivation, harvesting, and packaging of these special products to ensure optimal quality and shelf life. To cultivate a safe and sustainable product, natural pollinators such as bumblebees are used, and diseases and pests are controlled biologically with natural predators. This allows us to meet the high standards of quality labels such as Global Gap, Grasp, and Planet Proof, for which we are certified.
The shift in 1997 changed the vision and structure of the company. Engaging with our customers interested in our high-quality specialty products proved essential and beneficial for us. As producers, we increasingly come into contact with end-users who clearly express their preferences for our products. We use these preferences to optimize our processes. Conversely, sharing our story behind production and cultivation with our customers brings a lot of understanding and enthusiasm. In this way, we strengthen and inspire each other.
Quality and shelf life must be optimal every day. Our company is entirely geared toward this. All our products are harvested only fresh daily and packaged immediately after harvesting. This can only be done early in the morning. The flowers that are harvested open once at sunrise and close definitively around 11:00 AM. During this short period, harvesting and packaging take place to ensure optimal quality and shelf life. Our growing season is almost year-round, and we can deliver our products from early February to late November.
Within our company, we manage the entire process from cultivation to sales. This keeps communication lines short and ensures we are in direct contact with our customers, enabling us to meet their needs as closely as possible. It is crucial to balance supply and demand throughout the cultivation year. Our sales team is closely involved in production, harvesting, packaging, and planning. This benefits availability, freshness, and quality.
The courgette originates from Central America, specifically the border area between Mexico and Guatemala. After arriving in Europe via Spain, they thrived in our regions as well. They quickly became indispensable in Italian cuisine (delicious with pasta). Nowadays, courgettes are an unmistakable ingredient in many famous dishes across almost all Mediterranean countries. In the Netherlands, they have been cultivated for forty years. The courgette is related to pumpkins, cucumbers, and gherkins. In Italy and Germany, courgettes are known as zucchini, and in America, this vegetable is called squash.
The courgette plant blooms with beautiful yellow flowers. The male flower consists of a stem and a flower. The female flower consists of a small courgette (the ovary) with a flower attached. This flower is called the CourgetteFleur. From this flower, the courgette can grow.
However, the Courgette Fleur is also harvested and eaten as a delicacy. The flowers of the courgette plant open only once. The flower opens very early and closes around 10:00 AM. The Courgette Fleur is therefore harvested very early in the morning. The flower is immediately packaged individually in a flowpack to guarantee the longest possible shelf life. The shelf life of the Courgette Fleur is 4 to 6 days if stored refrigerated.
If the Courgette Fleur is not harvested, the flower must be pollinated to grow into a fruit. This must also happen within the short flowering period. Bees are used for pollination. They transfer pollen from the male to the female flower. If the pollinated Courgette Fleur is not harvested, the flower falls off and the ovary grows into a courgette.
During growth, we distinguish between different size categories: Mini, Midi, and standard-sized courgettes. The growth from flower to a 350-gram fruit takes about 5 days in summer. In spring and autumn, this takes up to 8 days. There are two cultivation periods per year. The spring cultivation is planted at the beginning of January. The first harvest is after four weeks and lasts until mid-July. The plants are then removed to make way for autumn cultivation, which is planted at the beginning of August and lasts until early December. To continue supplying in summer, a summer crop is planted at a second location. This way, we can deliver products from early February to late November.
The courgette is organically grown based on the Global Gap Care System. This Care System ensures that the crop is protected naturally against diseases and pests. Various beneficial insects such as parasitic wasps and predatory mites are used for this purpose. The grower is also required to keep a record of the use of crop protection products, fertilizers, and energy. This registration and cultivation are regularly checked by independent control bodies.
GGN: 8719338048104
Packed in a box of 15 pieces.
Packed in a box of 15 pieces.
Courgette Fleur green 4×4 packed in a tray of 4 pieces, 4 trays in a box.
Courgette Fleur yellow 4×4 packed in a tray of 4 pieces, 4 trays in a box.
Fioretta packed in a tray with 6 pieces, 4 trays in a box.
New packaging for CourgetteFleur, Fioretta, Mini Courgette.
Mini Courgette green packed in a tray with 7 pieces, 8 trays in a box.
Mini Courgette yellow packed in a tray with 7 pieces, 8 trays in a box.
The weight of standard green and yellow courgettes ranges between 225 and 600 grams. They are sorted and packaged by weight.
Mini Courgette yellow packed in a tray with 7 pieces, 8 trays in a box.
Within our company, we manage the entire process from cultivation to sales, keeping communication lines short and in direct contact with our customers. This enables us to provide custom solutions and meet our customers’ needs as closely as possible.
Our Sales Team:
Johan Zwinkels
Mobile: 06-51988291
Email: verkoop@courgettefleur.nl
Guus Zwinkels
Mobile: 06-83896217
Email: verkoop@courgettefleur.nl
Marketing and Communication
Email: info@courgettefleur.nl
Mobile: 06-83896217[Email:
Pruimenlaan 4,
2691 JR ‘s-Gravenzande
Mobile: +316-51988291
Tel: +31174-244779
