Although last year there was an acute shortage of iceberg lettuce due to the warm and dry summer, that wasn’t the case this year. “There are no shortages in iceberg lettuce caused by warm weather, and the lettuce continued growing as usual. Prices have actually been a bit low throughout the season,” says Kees van den Bosch of Freeland from Emmen, the Netherlands.
However, that’s not the case for all products. “Broccoli should have been in large supply, but as a result of the heat, that never happened. Supply is falling considerably behind, and there’s now hardly any broccoli available. Normally I’d have about ten suppliers, but I can now only order broccoli from one supplier,” Kees says.
Cauliflower mostly experiences severe shortages in the UK. “Because of the rain, not a lot could be planted there, and the situation is now crazy, because no cauliflower is available at all. But that shortage will soon turn into a surplus. Shortages aren’t too bad in the Netherlands. Supply sees some irregularities, but that’s a recurring phenomenon.”
“Prices of leek are between 50 and 70 cent, which is normal. Leeks were drooping for a while because of the warm weather, but this didn’t lead to major supply problems. The supply of celeriac and carrots doesn’t appear to show any problems either. Onions are much further along than last year, and these yields don’t appear to cause any problems, as long as it doesn’t continue raining from now on,” the outdoor vegetable trader concludes.
For more information:
Kees van den Bosch
Freeland B.V.
Nijbracht 126
7821 CE Emmen, the Netherlands
+31 591 67 05 70
kees@freeland.nl
www.freeland.nl