"It's been a wild one. Look at the prices," Kees Havenaar of Frutas Luna looks back at the extreme situation with Spanish greenhouse vegetables at the start of the year. "All in all it was a good winter. I always say: better to be expensive than not for sale. 'Normal' prices for this time of year are now being realised for most products."
Pepper
"The kilos per square metre are generally lacking in peppers. It's estimated around 2 kilo. I think the season will end sooner than usual. Green is the odd one out at the moment. Many growers are picking clean to place melons - which will be quite early - and the present Dutch green peppers aren't cooperating," says Kees. "Red and yellow are different. I could see a shortage of these colours developing in March. Whether this will cause the price to rise is the question. Many people are quite fed up of the high prices. As far as quality is concerned it is still going well, thrips isn't really present, but as soon as the temperatures rise we will have to look out."
Tomatoes / cucumbers
"After a scarcity there are now plenty of tomatoes. What you will see is that there are more small sizes. I expect a lot of M and vine and a lot of size MM in loose and plum tomatoes. The quality here is also still good. We will have to watch out after mid April," concludes Kees. "It's a good year for cucumbers, but the kilos are lacking here too. A lot of people in the programmes are nervous. There aren't large numbers and the quality is slowly decreasing. Soon the Netherlands will have the upperhand again and many supermarkets will switch."
Aubergines
Kees also looks back at the aubergine market with satisfaction. "It was great, with a price of 24 Euro for a tray of aubergines. Now we have moved to a stable price. A lot of countries that dropped out for the great prices are stepping back in now. Last week the demand was good. Now there are more numbers arriving. The harvest will continue until mid June. The quality is great, as the growers - like the tomatoes - have taken care of the plants. The high prices made it possible and we are now literally reaping the fruits!"
Courgettes
Last but not least, the courgettes. "Also fantastic. They were just impossible to get, enough of them at least. This situation is now over and what was newly planted can now be harvested. I also don't see anything crazy happening with courgettes for the next while, although you never know in courgettes. They can rise by 1 Euro per kilo and drop again. It remains a capricious product," concludes Kees.
For more information :
Frutas Luna import/export S.L.
Avda. De sabinal, 253
04740 Roquetas de Mar (AlmerÃa)
Tel: 0034-950178653
Mov: 0034-670916286
kees@frutasluna.com
www.frutasluna.com