The Sicilian pepper season is ending, as is the Spanish one in Almeria, so the Dutch are going strong. "In Italy there are few high-quality peppers. The Sicilian season is ending so the produce is not really perfect and production in Campania still has to start. That is why we turned to Spain, though over there the situation is the same," explains Luigi Battisti from Loffredo Stella.
"Production in Almeria is almost over and Murcia is late". The lack of Spanish produce means there is more room for the Dutch production. "Though it is still too early to make an assessment, we can say their production started well with good-quality peppers with a long shelf-life. They haven't always got off to such a good start."
Due to the Spanish gap, demand for Dutch peppers grew a lot, so much so that "last week prices increased somewhat. We are talking about €2.40/kg for red peppers and €2.70-2.90-3/kg for yellow ones at the start, sold with a 15% increase in our wholesale markets."
The high prices drove demand down though, which in turn put a stop to further increases. "Prices are higher but more stable this week. It was very difficult to go below €3 for yellow peppers and yesterday negotiations started at €2.50/2.60, destined to go up. The same happened for red peppers. The Spanish produce is sold at a lower price and the quality is also inferior: €1.50-1.70/kg from Almeria for both yellow and red peppers."
Author: Andrea Minghelli
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