"Potato market meanders on calmly"

At the moment it's still calm on the Belgian potato market. At Van Elven Agra the trade isn't in a rush. "The start of this season was promising, but it's meandering on calmly. It could do with some zest. There is some demand here and there, but we're not noticing much of it at the moment. Nothing concrete in any case," says Nele Van Elven.

Positive
Yet the prices pulled up in recent weeks. "We are positive when it comes to quality varieties before the end of the season. There are some problems in storage and the varieties that store well will probably see a revival in price." She hopes that the demand in the market becomes concrete soon. "I think it will remain calm over the next few weeks. The expectation is that it won't get going until later."

Van Elven grows and trades potatoes, onions and carrots. "We can't complain about the onions. We have a good demand from various packagers. We notice the Dutch packagers are looking for Belgian onions. The retail wants more Belgian products on the shelf and we can only applaud that. It creates opportunities," concludes Nele.

Stefaan and Nele Van Elven's potatoes are grown in Haspengouw, around 60 kilometres from the trading location in Veerle-Laakdal. In total, the company has 130 hectares of potatoes, 20 hectares of carrots and 5 hectares of onions. Van Elven supplies to various buyers, including wholesalers, small supermarkets and vegetable stores.

For more information:
Van Elven Agra BVBA
Eindhoutseweg 42
2431 Veerle-Laakdal
Tel: 0032 (0) 14/84.05.32
Fax: 0032 (0) 14/84.25.16
info@vanelven.be
www.vanelven.be