The supply of early potatoes from Cyprus is now gradually coming to an end. "The supply of regional early potatoes is increasing week by week, while prices are falling accordingly. Based on the signs so far, 2025/26 is unlikely to be the most expensive year for potatoes," reports Jörn Reuter, managing director of Reuter & Heka GmbH, which has locations in Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg.
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Managing director Jörn Reuter can be found at the Gelsenkirchen location during the day.
The seasonal transition is also imminent in the onion sector. "We have already received the last shipments of New Zealand onions, and the quality has been consistently good and stable this year. Similar to previous years, the first new harvest of household onions from the Palatinate region has already arrived, and here too, I would describe the produce as good and stable. The first table onions from the region will probably also be available soon," says Reuter. In the sweet onions segment, new Spanish produce is now available. "In the run-up to the Spanish season, there were shortages in Chile, so we had to resort to produce from Turkey and Senegal, which is rather unusual."
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View of the company premises at the Duisburg wholesale market
250 tons of storage capacity
The origins of Reuter & Heka GmbH date back to the 1970s. The company in its current form was established in 2016 when it merged with Heka Heghmans Kartoffelgroßhandel GmbH. With the emergence of ever larger food chains and discounters, the market and thus their customer base have changed fundamentally. Today's customers include restaurants, commercial kitchens, and communal catering, specialist and weekly market traders, peeling companies, but also some private customers who find competent, comprehensive advice on all aspects of table potatoes. Reuter: "We can store around 100 tons here at our Gelsenkirchen site and have around 150 tons of additional storage space at the Duisburg wholesale market. This business structure with two locations gives us a certain degree of flexibility because we can replenish our stocks immediately."
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Cypriot early potatoes of the Annabelle variety (left) and table potatoes from Lower Saxony
Both locations strengthen each other, Reuter emphasizes. "We mainly serve the western Ruhr Area and the Lower Rhine region via the wholesale market, while the Gelsenkirchen location is primarily a hub for supplying our customers in the central/eastern Ruhr Area. The needs of the respective customers also vary: it is sometimes astonishing what we sell at the wholesale market in terms of sweet onions, primarily for the catering industry, while in Gelsenkirchen, on the other hand, we need a wider range of potatoes."
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New Zealand onions (top) and Spanish sweet onions
In terms of procurement, there is now a much wider variety of varieties available than there was twenty years ago. "Proven varieties such as Cilena and Linda are now flanked by Allians, Emanuelle, and Belana. In my opinion, it would be wrong to claim that certain varieties are fundamentally better than others, as many factors have to be considered. In this respect, the cards are reshuffled every year."
© Hugo Huijbers | FreshPlaza.comRheingold onions from the Palatinate region
For more information:
Jörn Reuter
Reuter & Heka GmbH
Duisburg wholesale market
Telephone: +49 (0) 203 - 31 1 1 36
Warehouse in Gelsenkirchen
Regensburger Straße 16/18
45886 Gelsenkirchen
Phone: +49 209 22 586
[email protected]
www.kartoffeln-zwiebeln.de
