“The harvest of celeriac is enormous this year. I’ve heard from many growers that they have never had this many tubers per hectare,” says Nicoline Vaalburg of Boer Ted. However, there’s also a but. “Sizes are large, so everyone will just have to wait and see if they can get good prices. When sizes are smaller, it’s probably easier to get good prices.”
Sales
Harvesting started a few months ago, and will continue until the first frost. During the first three months, the crops were sold directly from the fields. Everything harvested now is put into storage. “During this time of year, about 30 to 40 per cent of the harvest remains in the Netherlands. Sales countries are mostly Germany and Eastern Europe. The smaller sizes are meant for retailers and wholesalers, larger product goes to cutting plants and processors of, for example, soup kits.” JH Wagenaar from Hoogkarspel has taken care of sales for Vaalburg for years. Together they ensure supply guarantee and quality throughout the year.
Big data
The harvest is a big surprise every year. Earlier this year, growers were still worried whether the young plants could survive the drought, but it appears as if every plant turned into a tuber, according to Nicoline. They’ve become strong plants. “We even had to mow twice, to get rid of the leaves before we could start harvesting. They say big data will take over from growers, but it’s a surprise every year. My father-in-law, who has been around for a while, cannot make predictions either. I wonder if big data will be able to make predictions in future.”
For more information:
Vaalburg vof
www.boerted.nl
Facebook: @BoerTed
Sales:
Gerard Breed
J.H. Wagenaar
Tolweg 7
1616 AT Hoogkarspel
Tel: +31 (0)228 566 417 or +31 (0)228 565 500
Gerard Breed Tel: +31 (0)6 20 13 16 82
www.jhwagenaar.nl