The sales of asparagus is hitting its limits this year, due to an expansion of the early cultivation. “After the high prices of last year, there was a considerable expansion in the Dutch and Belgian greenhouse cultivation. The German, heated production started last week. Last year, that supply perfectly suited the early Easter, but right now, supply is larger than demand,” says Will Teeuwen from Teboza.
According to the asparagus grower, this isn’t a complete surprise. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. If Easter had been late March again, we would have had a perfect situation with plenty of volume and decent prices. Prices are quite mediocre for the time of year, 8 euro per kilogram for double A. I expect we will not see the extreme prices of more than 10 euro this year.”
“However, it is positive that supermarkets have given the green light for asparagus on the shelves, and I therefore expect that volumes will easily find their way in the coming weeks, and that prices will be stable,” Will continues. “Because of the weather circumstances in South America, fewer asparagus will be available from Peru. We are already seeing that with the airborne freight of green asparagus, and we will start noticing it with white asparagus in about two or three weeks.”