The recent warm weather has left its marks in some places, according to Frits van der Meulen in his KCB column. However, that’s not the case everywhere, because some regions had cooler weather. The severe thunderstorms were very local as well.
Quality of outdoor crops
Let’s start with vegetables grown in the open air. These weren’t well protected, and broccoli in particular shows problems like burning despite screens. Cauliflowers are covered more often, and quality is therefore better. The quality of iceberg lettuce varies. Marginal blight could be seen in the regions that had heavy rain combined with high temperatures. Generally, the iceberg lettuce is quite large, and it’s difficult to fit the desired ten pieces in one box. In this situation, buyers have to switch to eight or nine lettuces, and they shouldn’t stick with the ‘regular’ ten in one box. That would just result in damages and quality problems.
Quality of greenhouse products
With these products it appears as if quality remained good after the warm period. Tomatoes have good quality and aren’t causing any problems. In bell pepper, quality is fairly good, and we’re seeing some more ageing spots. The quality of aubergines is good, and the KCB hasn’t rejected any. That’s also the case for cucumbers, which aren’t showing any quality problems.
Source: KCB