"Unpredictable situation in the strawberry market"

At the moment there is an exciting situation in the strawberry market. So says Ralph Bogers from CLTV Zundert. "We are waiting on the green house growers and there has been a dip in supply. The prices have risen and growers are still uncertain of the quality or if they can deliver the quantity. All together this makes the market unpredictable."

Decline in volume
"In the last few weeks it has become colder and darker again which the strawberry doesn't like. This causes a drop in volume. Technically the price for the grower right now is not so bad, in fact it's good. Last week the price lay around 2.50 per pound and that has now risen to 3.50 per pound (23 September) for the best quality. Today (23 September) the pay out price (including industry) was 6 Euro's a kilo."

Long difficult period
According to Ralph, growers need the good price right now. "For the outdoor grower as they need tunnels, it is a nice end to the season, but for many growers, buyers like us prefer stable prices the whole year instead of highs and lows. For everyone this is an annoying situation. This year, from mid July, it was a very difficult time in strawberries. There was not really a low point to speak of, there were no high prices but we had a low one which lasted a long time so made it difficult. A day or so of bad prices doesn't really hurt but when it carries on for weeks or months then it is very difficult."

He expects that from week 41 the green house production will arrive. The largest portion will go for export. "People here still typically think that the strawberry season lasts until August."

For more information:
CLTV Zundert
Ralph Bogers
Molenstraat 155
4881 GD Zundert
Tel: +3176-5972241
Fax: +3176-5972053
www.cltvzundert.nl