This summer was very disappointing for chicory cultivators. “July and August were mediocre to bad, both regarding demand and pricing. At the end of August, prices dropped even further. Fortunately we had a recovery in prices this morning. We, and all the cultivators, are now hoping for a better autumn, because that would make this year at least reasonable. It would not have to cost us money then,” says Gijs van Dongen of Nature’s Gold.
Several bright spots
“We can already conclude that July and August were far worse than the summer of 2015, when we had several weeks in a row with prices over one euro. We had several bright spots this summer as well, but those lasted only a few days at most. You barely notice those. Prices for the main selection are now around 70 to 80 cents, but we were around 60 to 70 cents on average yesterday.”
Turning point?
However, this morning appeared to be a turning point. “Prices for the highest selection have risen to 1.10 euro. There is, therefore, a possibility that this autumn will be better. We might have weeks with some shortages due to a lack of old roots on the market. But we cannot see that far into the future, because, in the end, a good market is influenced by many more factors. We are all hoping this is not just a recovery that only lasts a few days.”
Gijs van Dongen
Nature´s Gold Production B.V.
Meirseweg 37
4881 MJ Zundert