“It must get colder outside," says Guy De Meyer of Belgian export company, Demargro. “The current trade in winter vegetables is not good, but it is also not bad. Although leek sales are good, prices are lagging. €0,30 for a kg of leeks is too low for growers. Prices are just not climbing, even though supplies are not very high. Last year at around this time, leeks prices were a lot higher."
Left: young leeks. Right: French leeks.
France
“There are reasonable amounts of leeks throughout Europe. As a result, exports are a little disappointing. We, however, work with French growers so are, therefore, still selling some leeks on France. We are very pleased with this partnership. The French prefer local products, so things run perfectly like this," says Guy.
Belgian strawberries
The same counts for cabbages. "Savoy, red, and white cabbages are going for €0,30 apiece at the moment. That is a low price for this time of year," continues De Meyer. “In contrast, Belgian strawberries are doing very well. We had very high prices a few weeks ago. However, there is an increasing volume of import strawberries on the market. Prices have, therefore, fallen. Despite these increasing volumes, there is still a high demand for Belgian strawberries."
Top fruit
“Apples and pears are also selling well at the moment. Pears are moving well to countries all over Europe. Spain is taking quite a lot of Conference and Doyenne pears. France is asking for nice volumes too. The best-sized Conference prices are selling at around €0,60 to €0,65 per kg. That is much better than last year. For us, as a trader, that is a nice workable price," concludes Guy.
For more information:
Guy de Meyer
Demargro
11 Tombrug Street
8850 Ardooie, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 517 47 075
Email: guy.de.meyer@demargro.be
Website: www.demargro.be