The first German vegetable varieties have now been on the market for several weeks and new varieties are constantly added: "There are 
already radishes, spring onions, leeks and the first colored lettuces from German soil on the market," says Dieter Hy of Peter Keuthmann GmbH & Co. KG. "The lettuces were still a bit light this week, but next week we expect better sizes and volumes."
With the beginning of the domestic harvest, imported goods are slowly being pushed out of the scene. "The colored lettuces were mainly imported from France until recently, and iceberg lettuce is still sourced from Spain, where we expect the first Palatine product in two to three weeks and the first products from Hesse one or two weeks later."
Supply and demand of the colored lettuce are quite balanced, Hy said. The price of Spanish iceberg, however, went up last week: "Due to the warm winter period, the Spanish have started very early with the harvest and accordingly, amounts now fall back early. So at the moment there is a slight shortage on the market " The problems are seen solely with regard to the volumes; the quality of goods from Spain is still very good.
Regarding the varieties, Hy sees no change: "Lollo Bionda and Rosso, as well as mixtures of the two are still more popular than green or red oak leaves lettuce." On the consumer side, there are no clear preferences as far as origin is concerned.
Peter Keuthmann GmbH & Co. KG is headquartered at the Berlin Fruchthof and from there supplies goods mainly to market traders, and to horeca companies in the Berlin and Brandenburg area as well.
For more information:
Dieter Hy
Peter Keuthmann GmbH & Co. KG
Beusselstraße 44 N-Q
10553 Berlin-Fruchthof
Tel: +49 (0)30 39 40 99-0
E-Mail: info@keuthmann.net
Web: www.keuthmann.net/