The Dutch mushrooms growers are on the brink of ruin. “In recent years, 15 to 20 companies went bankrupt or had to quit. If price increases aren’t implemented, the mushroom production will disappear from the Netherlands in five years,” says Ko Hooijmans, chairperson of the Vakgroep Paddestoelen LTO. Now that the time of contract negotiations with retail are starting again, the professional group is sounding the alarm to wake up consumers, industry and retail in particular.
The professional group has had talks with retailers, particularly with Dutch supermarket chains Albert Heijn, Jumbo, SuperUnie and Coop, to clarify the situation. Ko: “They say they want Dutch product on their shelves, but when price increases come up, they hide behind each other. Lidl takes the lead with 0.79 cent for 250 grammes of mushrooms. Besides, promotions for mushrooms happen often, 0.49 cent per punnet, and they were recently even free with a voucher at Coop. That is (far) below cost price, and might make consumers think mushrooms don’t cost anything at all. That’s why we’ll definitely be talking to Lidl as well.”
Costs in mushroom production have been increasing for years, but yield prices don’t compensate these, and growers don’t have the capital to make necessary investments, such as pesticide-free production, which retailers are also asking for. Because of the continuing warm and dry weather this summer, growers also have to deal with additional costs for cooling. However, because the majority of mushroom growers have long-term contract agreements, they can’t pass on these additional costs. Coming season will also see higher costs, because the production of straw is also considerably less because of the extreme weather circumstances. This confluence of events has resulted in the professional group sounding the alarm.