"Good weather not helping watermelon market"

The Belgian company is, according to the importer, the biggest player on the watermelon market in Belgium. They buy about 100-150 tonnes of Sucre watermelon per week, which are almost all sold to Belgian wholesalers. "We import our Sucre watermelons from Spain", says Patrick. "Countries like Tunisia, Morocco and Greece now also have watermelons. Their quality is also improving, which makes it difficult for us. Due to the competition, our prices are now at EUR 0,80-0,90 per kilo, which is still high. At market, the price per kilo is only EUR 0,50 euro."

While good weather and watermelons usually go hand in hand, this is not the case this time, according to Patrick "Although the watermelon season is from May to August, I don't expect it to improve."

There is, according to the importer, a major difference between Belgium and its neighbouring countries when it comes to the consumption of Sucre watermelons. "Belgians still attach value to brands", he says. "I think it is the same in the other fruit and vegetable sectors too. In Germany and the Netherlands it is different, I think. There a watermelon is a watermelon; the brand is not important."

A increasing trend that Patrick has seen is that people are wanting smaller watermelons. "The large watermelons weigh about 4-5 kilograms. That is much too big for some people", he says. "The smaller kinds only weigh two kilograms. About 20 to 25 percent of our assortment is of this smaller variety. The larger melons do taste sweeter than the smaller ones, but it is only a matter of time before this changes."