During the first two weeks of April, high-quality greenhouse lettuce did rather well with quotations that exceeded those of April 2017.
As for gentile and butterhead lettuce, average quotations were 30-45% higher than those of traditional lettuce. These two PGI products are increasingly popular at the Lusia market, with significant increases for what concerns both volumes and quotations.
Carrots also did well, as the lower quantities were compensated by the higher quotations. Puntarellas and cauliflowers also did well (although the price of the latter decreased slightly due to an increase in supplies).
Things improved for swiss chard, oxheart cabbage, field radicchio and spinach, as demand was rather lively. Quantities were in line with the period and sales prices were slightly higher than last year.
Savoy cabbage, other types of radicchio, green celery, leek and cabbage didn't do so well. Oversupplies and weak demand favoured a drop in prices. The price of leek remained below €0.40/kg for the whole month.
Towards the end of the month, demand slowed down due to the abundant volumes of produce available, mainly from abroad. Prices dropped slightly and a few batches remained unsold.
April was a lively month for fruit, as prices were rather high and increased compared with last year. Many buyers explained that the prices were due to the lack of produce on a national level.
Overall, the market registered a 12% drop in tons sold compared to the previous year, while quotations increased slightly.