A rather bland end to the campaign for fennel after a season characterised by slow consumption due to a mild winter.
At the moment, late varieties from Apulia and Calabria are on sale in Bologna. Prices hover between 70 and 80 Euro cents per kg for the lower qualities and reach €1-1.10 for the rounder varieties, in line with previous seasons.
The reason for such a difference in price between the varieties (around 30%) is that there is less round fennel available due to the warm weather of the last few days, which accelerated ripening making the produce develop a more oblong shape.
The end of the season reflects the trend of the entire campaign, characterised by constant prices. Prices did shoot up towards the end of week 16: "we thought it was going to last, but didn't. The increase was caused by a gap in supply between the end of the winter fennel campaign and the arrival of the late varieties, which were a few days late."
Author: Andrea Minghelli
Copyright: www.freshplaza.it