There was a lot of pressure on the carrot market before Easter. Since then, the trade needs to get going again. This is according to Kees Heegsma from the Dutch town of Lemmer. "But growers that want to sell their carrots must know their stuff. The demand for carrots is currently quite broad."
"Eastern Europe is well on the market, and a lot of large carrots are going to German processors. Africa is also in the game and Belgium is still demanding field carrots. Now, when it comes to splitting the market, you still have people who think there is more to it."
"The question is whether they are going to be correct. Countries like Spain, Italy, Isreal, and Portugal also now offer carrots. So, there are alternatives at hand," he says.
The price for field carrots is currently between EUR0,30 and EUR0,34. "We have been talking about high prices for more than a year now. So, farmers who harvest a good product were certainly able to get good prices. It is only the defective batches that did not deliver the main price."
"All in all, we will not quickly forget the 2018 cultivation year. It is always true that we have fewer storage issues in a dry year. However, it did surprise me how the product suffered under from the dry weather and high temperatures," the full ground vegetable trader goes on to say.
It was only a rude awakening for the organic market, according to the trader. "There were high expectations and sales went well during the summer and autumn. Prices rose extremely high and the speculation, then, was whether it would become even crazier. The Netherlands priced itself a little out of the market with this."
"Germany is the largest sales market for Dutch organic carrots. There, 25-30% less was sold. So, you do then see consumers throwing their organic principles overboard. Everyone covered their contracts. That meant that, at any given time, there was no free market. And a lot of organic batches ended up being sold on the conventional carrot shelves."
"But that is a lesson learned for next time. If you can get high prices straight from the field, you must do business," Heegsma concludes.
For more information:
Heegsma BV
Kees Heegsma
74 Straatweg
8531 PZ Lemmer, NL
Tel.: +31 (0) 514 569 224
Fax.: +31 (0) 514 569 397
Mob.: + 31 (0) 653 244 828
E info@heegsmabv.nl
W www.heegsmabv.nl