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Part of organic sold as regular

"Expansion in organic greenhouse vegetables is clearly too much for the market"

Low prices are not only to be found in the conventional greenhouse vegetable market, organic is suffering this season too. "There has been a strong expansion in the Netherlands and this has put a lot of pressure on the prices for organic in Europe. They are clearly lower than in previous years," says Krist Hamerlinck of EcoVeg, a company that has been packaging and trading organic products for years. "Last year the prices for organic vegetables were very good and as a response to this a considerable amount of area has been added. The sector is now facing the consequences."



Portion sold as regular
The demand for organic is usually high than the supply. Not this time. "20% to a quarter has been added. That's clearly too much for the market. Yet this expansion can't be stopped," he says. Are the prices still higher for organic? "A portion of certain products has even been pushed into the regular channel. This is done by certain growers to ensure the prices don't crash completely."



Yet Krist has faith that it will be okay. "The consumption is rising, but not that quickly. We all have to take this into account. There are people who were blinded by the high prices last year. Those growers didn't have customers to start with and this created the problem. They are now on the instant market with lower prices. We thankfully managed to dodge it as we sold a lot in advance."

Ecoveg
Van Hamerlinck LV, the cultivation company, produces greenhouse vegetables such a cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. Soft fruit is also produced and open ground vegetables, included various types of cabbages. "EcoVeg is the sales organisation that was created from Hamerlinck. The Hamerlinck products are sold through Best of Four. Krist also has a cultivation company in Mexico.

For more information:
Ecoveg bvba
Stoepestraat 5a
9960 ASSENEDE
Mobile Krist: 0032 486 166 606
Fax : 0032 9 251 62 45
info@ecoveg.be
www.ecoveg.be
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