New at Dendauw-Stragier: yellow carrots

The new company, Dendauw-Stragier grows, stores, processes and delivers fresh carrots all year round. They also supply celery. This year they have started test growing yellow carrots. According to Nicolas Vandenbogaerde they are still in the test phase. "There is approximately 20 to 30 tons available right now. We grew these special carrots based on demand from certain clients, and this is something really new for us."

Freshly cut vegetables
Vandenbogaerde says that this could be particularly interesting for companies that supply freshly cut vegetables. "For example, they could mix yellow and orange carrots, which results in a very pretty coloured carrot." The yellow carrot tastes the same as the orange carrot. "The only difference is the colour: this carrot is not only yellow on the outside, but also on the inside as well. I have tried the yellow carrot myself in a salad. It tastes good and you can see the difference in colour quite well."

He does not expect the yellow carrot to have a huge following. "It is a nice product, but we don't expect it to be on the shelves of supermarkets anytime soon. The product will be seen first in hospitality companies, like restaurants, before it lands in supermarkets. We still do not know how the market will react. We are still busy with testing it with out clients. We obviously have to find out how their customers will react to the new product."

Market situation
It is very quiet in the carrot market right now." "The market is the market. We can't do much about that right now,' says Nicolas. The situation with Russia is also putting pressure on the market. "The price is down a lot since last year. It is a sad situation. We do not export ourselves to Russia. As a grower and packer of fresh carrots we have had, throughout the years, two steady clients: Belgium and France. That is continuing for us." According to Nicolas the coming period will be an unsure time for the market. "We still have to wait for the numbers to come in. Which volumes will we be storing this winter? How long will we be able to supply our clients with our own stock? What will the quality be like? We obviously have a whole list of questions that all have an influence on the eventual pricing."

For more information:
Nicolas Vandenbogaerde
NV Dendauw-Stragier
Steenovenstraat 79
8760 Meulebeke - België
Tel: +32 (0)51488574
www.dendauw-stragier.be