The cucumber market across major producing regions shows a mix of stable production, shifting acreage, weather-driven variability, and persistent price pressure, with each country facing its own balance of supply, demand, and seasonal challenges.
Italy reports stable cucumber production but falling prices, with greenhouse values down to €0.65/kg. Demand is steady as growers shift toward premium and mini snack types. The Netherlands closed most unlit crops after a season of reasonable prices, with exports to Germany and the UK. Cucumber acreage is expected to reach 640 hectares in 2025.
France is ending its season, now relying mostly on Dutch, Belgian, and Spanish supply. Production for 2025 is estimated at 187,400 tons, supported by higher yields. Germany continues to see low demand and soft prices, with Spanish cucumbers dominating the market. Mini cucumbers mostly come from Spain, the Netherlands, and Greece.
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Spain reports 2–3 per cent more plantings and higher early-season volumes due to warm weather. Prices have been restrained after overlapping with the late Dutch campaign. North America saw lower greenhouse yields in Ontario due to heat stress, while demand for Long English and cocktail cucumbers remains firm. Mexican field cucumber supply is steady, with high prices for large sizes.
South Africa faces prolonged low prices ranging from R7 to R16.75 per kilogram. Oversupply continues as both winter and summer production areas harvest simultaneously. Morocco started its season in October with large French-type cucumbers arriving on schedule. Dutch-type cucumbers for the European market are expected in late November, with acreage unchanged under fixed-price contracts.
Italy: Stable production with pressure on prices
The cucumber season in Sicily is currently underway, with production expected to continue until June. According to a producers' organisation, the seasonal trend is normal, with no particular issues reported. Overall volume forecasts suggest levels in line with previous years. The most notable trend in the sector is diversification towards premium products, as the traditional cucumber is no longer considered a growth item in the market. As a result, attention is shifting towards new varieties, particularly mini snack cucumbers.
According to Ismea data, greenhouse cucumbers showed a negative trend in average producer prices in the week from 3 to 9 November 2025, with prices falling by 13.3 per cent to €0.65/kg compared with the previous week. On an annual basis, the decline stands at 21.2 per cent, indicating a weakening market likely linked to increased availability and a seasonal drop in demand. This downward trend fits within a broader context of general weakness across several autumn vegetables, although the decline appears more pronounced for cucumbers.
As of 11 November 2025, cucumber prices in some of Italy's main wholesale markets show relative stability, with slight variations depending on origin and category. In Naples, Italian cucumbers measuring 14 to 21 cm and sold in multilayer packaging are priced between €0.90 and €1.10/kg. In Turin, prices remain at a similar level, confirming a range of €0.90 to €1.10/kg. The situation is more varied in Verona, where prices fluctuate depending on origin: local and Sicilian category 1 tray-packed cucumbers range from €1.20 to €1.30/kg, while multilayer cucumbers range from €0.80 to €1.00/kg. Category 2 cucumbers remain in the €0.70 to €0.80/kg range.
According to YouGov data, cucumbers, a typical vegetable in the Mediterranean summer diet, reach a monthly market penetration of more than 20 per cent between May and September. In total, almost five out of ten households purchase cucumbers at least once a year, compared with about four only two years ago. However, the quantity purchased per transaction and the average spend per receipt remain stable.
Netherlands: Steady season with rising exports
Most unlit cucumber crops ended around mid-November. A sunny spring led to high production levels, after the spring of 2024 had been unusually dark.
Price formation this season was generally reasonable across the board. In August, prices dipped briefly. In July and at the end of the season, several price peaks were recorded at the VBT auctions, an important price reference in the Benelux.
From January through September 2025, the Netherlands exported 6 per cent more cucumbers to Germany than in 2024, and 17 per cent more to the UK than in the same period in 2024.
In recent years, tomato growers have switched to cucumber cultivation due to virus pressure. Some growers have expanded in this crop, sometimes adding snack and midi cucumbers. Other growers ended their last cucumber crop this autumn and are now returning fully to tomatoes. According to preliminary figures, cucumber acreage in the Netherlands will reach 640 hectares in 2025, compared with 630 hectares in 2024.
This winter, growers with lighting will switch on their LED lamps again. In some cases, growers have already started, although most will begin production later in the winter season. Thanks to relatively low gas prices, growing cucumbers under lighting is once again feasible.
France: Stable demand and firm summer prices
The French season is coming to an end. A few products are still available, but the majority of the French market now comes from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain. Demand for cucumbers is currently low due to the cold weather, and the fruit and vegetable market has been very slow overall for nearly a month.
For the 2025 season, French production is estimated at 187,400 tons, an increase of 22,000 tons compared to 2024, with the cultivated area 4 per cent larger. Higher yields were recorded across all production areas thanks to good sunshine and the overall good health of greenhouse crops.
In terms of marketing, sales were strong in July with high prices, which eased later in the month as demand slowed due to cooler temperatures. In August, volumes remained high until mid-month and sold without difficulty due to active and steady demand. Prices softened, 6 per cent below last year, but remained firm and stood 11 per cent above the 2020-2024 average for the same month.
Germany: Low demand keeps prices under pressure
Spanish cucumbers dominated, with Dutch and Belgian deliveries supplementing the market. Greek batches appearing in Munich left something to be desired in terms of quality. Domestic batches, which had previously dominated, now played only a supplementary role. Overall supply decreased but remained sufficient to meet demand. Prices tended to fall rather than rise. Mini cucumbers were mainly supplied by Spain, followed by the Netherlands and Greece. Trade was relatively quiet, but prices often showed slight increases.
"From a production perspective, the season was pleasantly uneventful," says Rudolf Dworschak, CEO of Bio.Fru.Pro., regarding this year's yields for domestic organic cucumbers. "We were largely spared from increased pest or disease pressure and prolonged heat waves this year. As a result, harvest volumes remained consistent, and we were able to reliably meet our trade agreements."
Spain: Warm conditions accelerate cucumber production
The cucumber planted area has increased by around 2–3% this season, as has the courgette area, driven by growers shifting away from peppers due to concerns over Thrips parvispinus, which heavily affected pepper production last year and is worsening again this season. The cucumber season in Almería is advancing with higher volumes than last year, influenced by higher-than-usual temperatures. At the same time, the start of the Spanish season overlapped with the late end of the Dutch export campaign, which has kept prices below expected levels.
As cucumber plants have produced more than usual so far this season and growing cycles are ahead of schedule, a production gap is likely within a month. In recent days, Almerian auctions have shown a slight upward trend in cucumber prices due to the end of the Dutch season. Production in Almería is expected to stabilise in the coming weeks as temperatures become milder.
North America: Greenhouse yields down, pricing under pressure
The province of Ontario in Canada is the largest grower of greenhouse cucumbers in North America. Only about 15 per cent of the province's production remains in the domestic market, and 85 per cent is exported to the U.S. This past summer, yields were lower than usual. Owing to an extended period of warm weather, the plants became stressed, which increased disease pressure and caused yields to drop by about 10 per cent. Although Ontario grows cucumbers year-round, winter production falls by about 50 per cent.
Despite reduced yields, prices have been low, which may be due to trade pressure. Demand for greenhouse cucumbers has been consistent. The largest category, Long English cucumbers, has grown by 13 per cent year over year, while the cocktail cucumber category shows a 25 per cent increase, driven by a surge in demand for snacking items. This aligns with consumers' healthier eating habits and their preference for convenient products.
Open-field cucumbers
The supply of field cucumbers is steady. Mexico has been performing well, likely at the level it would sell to the United States. The large-sized cucumber market in Mexico is the preferred market and is seeing good pricing, up to €16.35 (US$18.95).
This means less supply has been coming into the U.S. However, with overall good production, the market is cyclical and is now seeing better pricing in the U.S. for certain sizes.
Demand has been slow, but a transition in growing regions in the southeast will help product flow more easily and quickly.
South Africa: Prolonged low prices strain growers
"It's a difficult time to be a cucumber farmer," one grower says. The current cucumber price, according to various sources, ranges between R7 (€0.35) and R16.75 (€0.84) per kilogram. "It's not unusually low; it has just been low for a long time. September and October saw very low prices. Throughout winter, I never received more than R250 (€12.60) for a box containing 15 large cucumbers," the farmer notes. "Last year it broke through the R300 (€15.14) mark a few times."
Cucumber farmers from both winter and summer production areas are currently harvesting, and an estimated 300 to 330 hectares of cucumbers are grown in South Africa. The cucumber market is easily oversupplied. This is the mid-month period, which is always quieter, but higher volumes of cucumbers, as well as many other vegetables, are putting further pressure on prices.
Morocco: Stable acreage as season starts on schedule
The Moroccan cucumber season began in October with the so-called "French" varieties of large-sized cucumbers. They are arriving on schedule despite a general delay in the early vegetable season, as they were less affected by this summer's heat waves and the subsequent seed shortage. That said, small-sized "Dutch" cucumbers, which are in highest demand on the European market, are not expected until late November, according to a producer based in Agadir.
Despite stagnant demand and low prices at the end of the previous season, cucumber acreage in the Souss Massa region and its capital Agadir, has not changed, according to local sources. This is explained by fixed-price exports under contracts, which offer security to a large number of growers. Current prices are around MAD 150 (€13.95) per box of 30, according to one exporter.
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