The French cauliflower season has been considerably derailed. “Due to weather circumstances we’re now working with varieties that were planned for late December,” says Theo Kampschoer of Kampexport from Saint-Pol-de-Léon, France. “Unfortunately we haven’t received much money yet. We currently have prices of 5/6 euro per six cauliflowers, so it’s not exactly a luxury.”
Any market recovery is only possible if the weather changes, according to the exporter. “If it becomes colder, we might be able to increase prices by 1 or 2 euro, but for now, that’s not going to happen. Spain, and Italy in particular, are also not asking much for their cauliflowers, even though they require plenty of work. Everyone’s still working with autumn cauliflower, which have to be kept fresh every day.”
“Wholesalers make agreements in Spain and Italy, sometimes they don’t even agree to a price. The decision is made by the wholesalers, and we try to adjust with our system of auctions. We spend much time tracing and monitoring our growers. Each cauliflower packaging has a GGN label from each grower, while everyone puts a GGN code from the auction on their packaging, but you can’t trace the growers with those. These are requirements from our customers, and we’re very strict about it. The auction system doesn’t make it any easier either.”
According to Theo, better prices can be had for variegated lettuce, which he buys from large producers in Southern France. Productions of this product are good. “They might not arrive per multiple lorries at a time, but we’re getting more and more pallets of the lettuce, which we sell to our export destinations.”
For more information:
Kampexport International SARL
19 Rue Pen ar Pont
BP 78
29250 Saint Pol de LEON, France
Tél : +33 (0) 2 98 69 28 22
Fax : +33 (0) 2 98 29 04 04
kampexport@kampexport.com
www.kampexport.com