It's warm and busy in tomatoes. "The demand is increasing. The price is acceptable for the time of year, which means not bad and not good. For vine tomatoes the prices are around 60 cents. Those of beef tomatoes - depending on the calibre - vary between 60 and 80 cents," says Erik de Winter of Rotom Tomatoes.
He indicates that the tomatoes are 'selling well' at the moment. "There is demand behind it. The question is, what the response of the Polish grower will be? Production is starting there. For a few months in the year - particularly the summer months - this is an important competitor. Especially in the area of export we often meet them." Two weeks ago it wasn't as good for tomatoes. "The grower's prices then were really low, 30 to 40 cents. The reason for it rising is lesser production from the south and the demand increasing due to the warm weather."
Full loads
He doesn't expect rapidly rising volumes this week. "In the first few days the production won't be too extreme. I expect slightly more production at the end of this week. A few weeks ago the plants had a discharge of fruits. Now they're filling up again, but it will take a while. This means that producers now - compared to the temperatures outside - aren't at an exceptional productions. At the start of last week the production was high, but now it is lower despite the outside temperatures. There are around 6 to 7 vines on the plants which isn't too heavy a load. I expect the prices not to drop too much for now. There could be a change in this at the end of this week."
For more information:
Erik de Winter
Rotom Tomatoes
Drevendaal 38
B-2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver
Tel: +32 15 32 38 32
Tel Erik: +32 495-186351
Fax: +32 15 32 38 33
www.rotom-tomatoes.com