"Stabilisation of Dutch asparagus area after years of growth"

The Dutch asparagus season has been on the go for the last three weeks or so. WIll Teeuwen of Teboza is positive about the season. "The Carnaval week last week isn't traditionally the best sales week, but we now see the prices pulling up again. The expectation is that retail will be offering asparagus again from the end of next week and this is why I expect good asparagus prices until Easter at least. At the moment the doubt A sorting has good prices, the A sorting is lagging behind a little but when retail sales burst loose I expect a revival for them too."

"The volume are still limited at the moment. Until Easter 90% of the Dutch asparagus come from heated cultivation. There have been large extensions in this in recent years, so there is a larger volume available, but the real volumes of asparagus from open ground won't arrive until after Easter," expects Will. Although the asparagus area in recent years across cultivation systems has expanded, he sees a stabilisation for the first time this year. "I expect the Dutch asparagus area to even shrink over the coming years."

As usual the weather is an important factor in asparagus cultivation. "We have to wait and see how long the frost period will last. The predictions of -10ºC are considerable, although I don't expect as much influence for the heated cultivation unless it holds up for a while," continues Will. "Last year a late Easter followed an early spring. This year we have an early Easter and could have used early spring weather."

Teboza aims to speak to a wider audience this season with asparagus. "We do this based on applications and ease, so that we speak to more people with soup asparagus, stir fry asparagus, green and peeled asparagus. We see a rising line among the younger and foreign audiences in recent years. We were at a disadvantage with the white asparagus in the barbecue season, but this summer we will be promoting green asparagus for the barbecue, they're perfect for it!"

For more information:
Will Teeuwen
Teboza
Zandberg 14b
5988 NW Helden
Tel: +31 (0) 77 307 1444
Fax: +31 (0) 77 307 7398
w.teeuwen@teboza.nl
www.teboza.com