“You have to distinguish yourself with quality”

Cucumbers produced in Greece and Spain are strongly represented at the wholesale market in Munich. “At the moment customers are fed up with the poor quality of the Greek cucumbers and choose the Spanish cucumbers,” states the expert, "These cucumbers are far superior in quality and taste to the Greek cucumbers."

“The most cucumbers from Spain and Greece are sealed in plastic,” says the manager, “We don’t like this packaging. Not only for environmental reasons, but also because it isn’t fair to the consumers. Cucumbers in plastic always look good, but if you unpack them the cucumber goes limp.”

“Especially at quieter times you have to distinguish yourself with quality products,” says the wholesaler, “And because we sell unpackaged cucumbers our prices are a bit higher than those of our competitors.” Overall more packaged cucumbers are sold. “Cucumbers sealed in plastic sell better because they are cheaper. Customers are still very price-conscious.”

In addition the company Franz Schmitt also sells mini cucumbers from Spain. The wholesale market also trades in mini cucumber supplies from Turkey and the Netherlands. “The Turkish mini cucumbers are the cheapest, but they also have the shortest shelf-life,” states Daniel Schury, “After a few days these cucumbers are gone. The Spanish mini cucumbers are situated in the middle segment of price and quality and the Dutch cucumbers are the most expensive."

The demand and supply are balanced according to Schury. “We can easily sell the amount that we are getting. But the supply shouldn’t be much bigger.”

According to Schury an overall change in the cucumber market could occur in February. “It does depend on the harvest in the Netherlands and Germany, and this is in turn dependent on the weather.” When the temperatures increase the cucumber trade is quickly overloaded with produce from Central Europe. But if it is cold and stays cold then these cucumbers don’t reach the market and prices will increase.”