“The season of organic outdoor vegetables is doing its thing. There’s plenty of demand and supply of the products, and quality is also fairly stable,” says Johan Vanhaeren of organic wholesaler BioVibe. “The white and red cabbage, leek and celeriac are at the same price levels as in previous years. Carrots are slightly more expensive than normally, but differences aren’t great either. Apples and pears are also doing well. There’s a lot of supply and the top fruit is of good quality and flavour. We expect the first arrivals of Boskoop and Doyenne soon.”
Dry weather
The suppliers of BioVibe were affected by the warm and dry weather, just like the conventional growers. “Our growers were all capable of irrigating, and serious efforts have been made to limit damages. Up till now, they managed to absorb everything fairly well, and we’re not much affected by the dry weather,” Johan says. “Cauliflower wasn’t as good in the past few weeks, but we now have plenty of volume again. The pumpkins are a bit smaller as well, but this won’t cause any trouble, because the area has increased.”
Butternut
BioVibe expects demand for pumpkins to start increasing again near the end of October. “Demand for pumpkins is still a bit behind in September, but it will improve this month. Near the end of October, sales peak, and we’ll sell double what we’re selling now. Demand will remain stable in the winter months,” Johan continues. According to him, popularity of pumpkins increased considerably in recent years. Varieties such as butternut are doing very well.
The organic wholesaler has seen demand for organic products increasing slightly. “We expect demand to continue growing, but it won’t be a spectacular growth yet. I think organic is growing more rapidly abroad than it is in Belgium, but I don’t know why we’re falling behind a bit.” BioVibe supplies 95 per cent of its products to the domestic market, and the other five per cent is sent to the Netherlands, France, and a small volume to Germany. The products are mostly meant for supermarkets, organic food shops and wholesalers.
“In recent years, we’ve also seen demand for forgotten vegetables such as parsnip and root parsley increasing. The same is true for the emerging sweet potatoes. Yet the organic sector is fairly stable. Organic doesn’t have a lot of ups and downs on the market, and prices remain fairly stable as well. As it looks now, we’re expecting a good season with great, quality products,” Johan concludes.
For more information:
Johan Vanhaeren
BioVibe
Kempenarestraat 44A
2860 – Sint-Katelijne-Waver
+32(0)15 70 0092
info@biovibe.be
www.biovibe.be