The larger vegetable suppliers of Germany clearly notice the effects of the cool weather. In the Palatinate, the influence on sales is clear. Regarding cabbage vegetables in particular, prices are currently very high. Because of last year's heat wave too few commodities are currently available. Furthermore, due to the cool weather, a low demand for Palatine lettuces is felt. "Of course it's too cold to have a barbecue. You can tell by the sales rates. The marketing of radishes and spring onions, however, is progressing. All in all, the market situation is not bad," says sales manager Bruno Handwerker of Schlosser Gemüse GdbR.
At the moment is almost the full range of lettuces and outdoor vegetables from Palatine cultivation is available. Only radish is still to come, as usual, in the first week of June. Celery from the open field will be offered more often this week, Handwerker states. "The amount of regional turnips still leaves something to be desired. Last year, we were already able to send large volumes of these for export at this time of the year. Currently, turnips had a hard time growing because of the cold weather."
Open field vegetables in appropriate packaging
For bund onions there was indeed a good start of the season, with prices being good, but after a while there were too much goods on the market. "Morocco was strongly represented in the market and Egypt came up with very cheap goods. But the situation has stabilized again in recent weeks and meanwhile all German food retailing programs have been stocked with German goods," explains Handwerker.
Fluctuations in the vegetable market
But it is not only in the national trade that fresh Palatinate goods have a priority, they are in demand in other European markets as well. Among others, Schlosser Gemüse GdbR supplies retail and wholesale customers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain, from a total area of around 1,600 ha. Carrots are the company's main product in terms of quantity: "In England, we sell quite large volumes of fry onions." However, the vegetable market is always good for a surprise: Not every market fluctuation can be calculated in advance, says Handwerker: "Last winter we were able to sell large quantities of greenhouse celery at good prices due to the quality problems in Spain. At the moment, our outdoor celery is still too small to be harvested."
Carrots are quantitatively the main product of the traditional Palatine company
Organic vegetables: Low demand in the export market
The current development area of the Schlosser Gemüse GdbR lies in the organic products. In the Palatinate too, the cultivation of organic products and the quantities available for marketing are increasing year by year. "We have made major extensions in recent years. For example, we are offering organic zucchini for the first time this year, and organic garlic is also gaining in importance. For the carrots, about half of our assortment already consists of organic products. "Despite the increased demand for organic vegetables, the specialized assortment still only finds limited acceptance in the export market, according to Handwerker.
For more information:
Gemüsebau Schlosser GdbR
Ziegeleistrasse 8
D-67105 Schifferstadt
Tel. +49 (0) 62 35 / 49 32-0
Fax +49 (0) 62 35 / 49 32-10
info@schlosser-gemuese.de
www.schlosser-gemuese.de