The Spanish tomato campaign is underway with large volumes at this time and slightly lower prices. Meanwhile, cucumbers, which had enjoyed high and stable prices in recent weeks, have suffered a collapse in recent days due to the increase in volume, falling in just one week from 1 Euro per kilo to an average of 0.59 Euro in the auctions.
"In October and November, when there was a lower cucumber supply than in the previous year, we didn't suffer any oversupply. Sales went relatively smoothly and prices stood at good and stable levels," explained the exporter.
In terms of quality, Stephan says that to date, it has been very good, with virtually no complaints. "This year, we have planted later, so we started selling in October with good colouration from the beginning."
The exporter says that, although prices have gone down, the volume of cucumbers in Spain is not very high and everything points to the Netherlands arriving later with large volumes, since at the moment, since January, there is only availability of cucumbers produced with artificial lighting.
More stable tomato sales
"Plum tomato sales are still good and more stable than last year. It has rained more; we have had more cloudy days and generally cooler temperatures, with the exception of the first weeks of January. This has resulted in more stable volumes, which facilitates the planning of the sales," explains Stephane van Marrewijk, of the commercial and marketing department of Vicasol.
The exporter speaks of a greater competitive pressure from Dutch tomatoes on the vine grown with artificial lighting. For plum tomatoes, however, there is as yet no strong competition from the Netherlands. Also, "while there is some production available from Eastern countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria or Hungary, this year we are facing less competition from Turkey, which is shipping larger volumes to the Russian market," he added.