"Partnerships gave security when Spanish shortage hit"

A major Norwegian importer has reported that they have not been hit as hard as other countries by the vegetable shortage out of Spain over the last several weeks and that supplies and prices seem to have stabilised.

"We have sufficient supplies of vegetables like courgettes, iceberg, broccoli and cauliflower from Spain. The prices have dropped a lot over the last two weeks and there are good volumes again. I think that this also has a lot to do with the trusting relationships we have with our Spanish business partners. We source from them year round, so they make sure we don't feel it as much when things go wrong, like last January and February." said the importer.

The importer said that they are fully covered with all vegetables from Spain and are in a better place than they were last month. The prices have dropped significantly in the last 2 weeks and although they are still slightly high, they are closer to the prices you would normally see this time of year. He also said that they seem to have stabilised.

"We had really, really high prices in January, which you could even call crazy. I am happy to say that the situation is good now for Norway, prices are stable, there are low prices, good volumes and vegetables are easy to get. Of course it is difficult to say how much the situation in Spain will affect the rest of the season, and I think it will, but it is too soon to say how."

"Reports out of the Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark suggest they are having big problems with supplies, but we have seen in Norway that having steady and loyal business relationships have really spared us from being in the same situation. If you conduct business by jumping around and buying from several different suppliers, you won't be the first one they try to help when the problem becomes big like it is now. It's not about being the one who orders the most, but about being reliable. They deal with you, day in and day out, 52 weeks a year and know that they can depend on your business. Our Spanish suppliers made sure that we were one of the first to get everything they were able to send." concluded the importer.