One of the most important vegetable cultivating areas in Germany is Lower Saxony according to the Landvolk press office. In the area of Luneburg vegetables are cultivated on 5,728 hectares, in the Weser-Ems region on 9,416 hectares, around Braunschweig on 1,339 hectares and around the capital of Hannover on 5,417 hectares. Asparagus are clearly present in the Luneburg area and cultivated on 1,076 hectares and in the Hannover region on 2,123 hectares.
The 2013 statistical report states that about 22,000 hectares are used for vegetable and strawberry cultivation, which are divided over about 1,149 companies in Lower Saxony. 17,500 hectares is used for the cultivation of open field vegetables and 85 hectares is used for tunnels and greenhouses. 4,251 hectare is used for open field strawberries and 55 hectares is used for the cultivation of strawberries in high tunnels or green houses.
Leaf and stem vegetables are grown on 8,690 hectares in Lower Saxony. This includes iceberg lettuce (244 hectares), spinach (285 hectares), leeks (363 hectares) and asparagus (on 4,303 hectares). Cabbage varieties are cultivated on 2,732 hectares and broccoli with 809 hectares and cauliflowers with 747 hectares have a top position. Of the 15,000 metric tons of kale harvested in Germany 6,271 metric tons is harvested in Lower Saxony, the largest share in the Weser-Ems region (5,896 metric tons). In 2013 the 451,518 metric tons of vegetables was harvested on 1,000 farms. 30,787 metric tons were grown on 151 companies that completely converted to organic farming. The organic farms comprise of an area of 1,150 hectares.
The most important sales channels for the German vegetable farmers is the sales to the wholesalers or directly to supermarkets. Around 1.5 million metric tons of cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, herbs and asparagus were sold by the farmers in 2014. That is about 40% of the German fresh vegetable production. About one million metric tons, a third, of the vegetables is processed, canned, frozen or used as ingredients in convenience food. Other sales channels are farmers markets and direct sales on the farm. In 2014 over 2.5 million metric tons of fresh vegetables were produced in Germany. In addition 3.2 million metric tons of vegetables were imported.
Germans prefer to buy their vegetables at a discounter (41.1%) or a supermarket (28.9%). 20.2% of the German vegetables aren’t part of a home-cooked meal, but used in restaurant or cafeteria dishes. Only 3.6% of the vegetables are sold on street and farmers markets.