"The situation remains bad for white cabbage, with large quantities still in cold stores. Demand is very low throughout Europe, which has brought really low prices. Things are better in the Chinese cabbage market, for exporters anyway. There has been good availability of good quality products, and our prices are appealing to other markets compared to Dutch prices. We are currently selling our cabbage to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany," said Kornelia Lewikowska from Greenbest.
Kornelia did share that the situation hasn't been as beneficial to producers. Despite demand being higher than last year, the price for producers are down by €0.07 compared to the previous season.
"We have been confronted with an oversupply of vegetables in Europe. January and February are typically the months of the year when we export the most Chinese cabbage. The fact there there is less Chinese cabbage available compared to white and red cabbage, could be the reason why the situation for this variety is slightly better," Kornelia confirmed.
Only time will tell what the situation will be at the end of April, when the new cabbage crop becomes available. Kornelia said that the old crops left in storage will be sent for processing and any stock unable to be sold will have to be thrown away.
When asked if changing consumer eating habits has had an effect on the current market situation for cabbage, Kornelia replied; "For sure, changing eating habits has had an impact on demand for traditional vegetables, but Chinese cabbage is still popular among customers. Young people more often buy 'trendy vegetables', but there is still very large group of people who buy traditional ones. New trends affect shopping, but the vegetable market does not change so quickly. It will take several years to significantly change the market."
For more information:
Kornelia Lewikowska
Greenbest
Tel: +48 737 602 848
Fax: +48 17 850 80 00
Email: kornelia.lewikowska@greenbest.pl
greenbest.pl