The current carrot market is not very exciting. "That's not unusual for the time of year," says Ronald Gielleit of Top Fresh Handel in the Netherlands. "In the last three years, the dry weather resulted in early demand for our carrots. But, presently, the weather has been great for growth everywhere. All the countries have carrots. That's actually normal for this time of year."
"In the Netherlands, we've always been dependent on problems elsewhere. The bigger the issue, the more holes we can fill. The beauty of carrot trading is that you never know what the situation will be like in a few weeks. Regular carrots are currently priced at around €0.07/€0.08. But people are paying €0.17 or €0.18 for organic carrots. At the moment, there's only a little export to Africa. Germany is our most important buyer. They, however, only come to the market in December."
Top Fresh specializes exclusively in cultivating and processing ready-to-eat carrots. These are for the local and overseas markets. "We buy in and export throughout Europe," Says Ronald. "To serve customers all year long, we work closely with growers in other countries too. They're in Germany, England, France, Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, and Israel. We offer the entire range of both conventional and organic carrots year-round."
He says the carrots look good. "But, of course, you always have to wait to see how they come out of the cold stores. Last year we had to import a lot of Spanish carrots. That was because the stored carrots' quality was no longer adequate. We were satisfied with last year's sales. However, in recent years the organic market is becoming more of a price market. Unfortunately, cultivation expansion is surpassing sales there. So, prices are under increasing pressure," Ronald concludes.
For more information:
Ronald Gielleit
Top Fresh Handel
21 Zuiderringweg
8317 RA, Kraggenburg, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 527 745 043
Email: ronald@topfreshhandel.nl
Website: www.topfresh.nl