About us: Unveiling our culinary journey

1950

We are all leaves on

the same plant

Growing top-of-the-bill products, of course, remains our top priority. But Taste Up today is much more than what it was when it started in the 1950s. While Jozef and Adèle de Koster still packed and went to the early market every morning with their products, we now deliver our products to your front door. We manage the entire logistics chain… from the moment the seed of your head of lamb's lettuce is sown to the moment that your lamb's lettuce becomes the protagonist in your avocado salad with lamb's lettuce, strawberries and raspberries. In this way we ensure flawless delivery, but we also offer numerous packaging options tailored to the customer: from loose in crates to trays with a resealable lid. The integration of IT solutions and other innovative gadgets also ensures further optimization of our logistics as well as our packaging options and our range.

Hot off the press

Freshness... it may not sound as good as Abracadabra or Alakazam, but it is our magic word. We can pull freshness out of our hat because we grow, import and process all our products ourselves. A quality control is carried out at the source and a product only leaves our fields or greenhouse when it meets the strictest requirements in terms of quality and freshness. Our IFS Food and IFS Broker certificates prove that we live up to our nickname; the Fresh Prince of Groot-Bijgaarden. Besides having green fingers, technology also plays an important role in freshness and quality. Technology will never replace the magic of Mother Nature but technology in the hands of Mother Nature might be a little piece of green magic...

1980

"The sky is not the limit,

it's just the beginning"

Since the 80s, it is we, Johan and Marina Leemans, who are at the helm of a family business that has weathered many storms and is now sailing into the future with the wind in its sails ready to face the highest waves. That pure passion for herbs, salads, peppers and edible flowers was passed on at an early age to the fourth generation of passionate growers, Jolien and Jorne. Both generations give the best of themselves day in and day out to grow the freshest and highest quality salads and herbs. Also two different generations with their own vision and ideas, which makes for an interesting interaction where problems, spiced up with love and a cup of 'instant' coffee, are turned into opportunities. Together with our employees, we form one big happy family in which talent is developed and stimulated... we are all leaves on the same plant.

Technology at the service of the customer

Anyone who has ever said that technology will replace paper has probably never wiped their backside with a laptop. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Taste Up therefore embraces technology but without losing track of the ultimate goal; to deliver high-quality products that are unrivalled in taste and looks. What is sown, will be harvested, but only by applying sowing, harvesting and climate methods and procedures that, among other things, make it possible to provide you with your favourite herbs, salads and peppers all year round. A masterpiece of technology but also a global story...

A global story

In addition to using greenhouses and innovative climate technology to offer you an extensive local range of products, Taste Up is continuously on a quest crossing municipal, provincial and even national borders looking for flowers, peppers and herbs that simply thrive better in other climates and regions. Because for us, quality knows no bounds! The proof? Bringing out the David Livingstone in ourselves, results in a close cooperation with, among others, Kenyan herb growers. It is just one chapter in our global story that brings people closer together and that brings a magic mix of scents and colours to your plate. A global story, but a carbon neutral one...

We think about the future

Econology! No, it’s not a department in your local hospital, but rather the fusion of economy and ecology — a flagship of Taste Up. Our global story, of course, comes with CO₂ emissions, and we are very aware of that. To get our products onto your plate as fresh as possible all year round, a logistical feat is required — with the associated emissions. Through various initiatives, we contribute our part to a more sustainable world. Completely in line with our life motto: “Be the change you wish to see”!

The story of Taste Up is a culinary masterpiece prepared in a 5-star Michelin restaurant; served by passionate family members who have been master chefs of the green gold for four generations and who surprise us with their sensuous salads, spicy peppers, fresh herbs and elegant edible flowers. The perfect palette of ingredients to unleash your culinary creativity. Because a story without passion, is like a product without taste! What once began as a nursery with a bunch of open-air fields and a range of rather local vegetables such as parsley, carrots and celery has now grown into a flourishing and vibrant enterprise that uses the most modern technologies to meet the highest standards in terms of quality and hygiene. To stay in that culinary mood... always on a bed of customer satisfaction with a dash of freshness and a pinch of CO2 neutrality. Because Taste Up is more than just your ordinary nursery.

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