With the trial period almost over, the Dutch cooperative Veiling Zaltbommel will switch its auction from analog to digital at the end of October for existing buyers. "Our growers and we consider the auction a wonderful pricing tool. Not nearly all sales are made via that, but it's a vital price formation barometer and remains the most overt way of establishing price," begins director Gerard van den Anker.
"That's led to more market interest, and quite a few buyers who deliberately choose this pricing device have come forward." According to Gerard, not only the number of buyers but also the number of growers shows healthy growth. "We've had quite an influx of new top and soft fruit growers," he says.
"The top fruit season's prospects look good. We did many off-tree sales this year. Harvesting is over, and the storage cells are closing, so we're slowly moving toward storage sales. Market demand is good for both apples and pears. There's, for example, unusually good demand for Beurré Alexander Lucas pears. Those sales were quite difficult last year, but the pricing shows there's good demand."
"That's not just from Eastern Europe; demand from southern European countries - Spain, but especially Italy - is rising nicely, too. At Prognosfruit, it became clear that Italian pear production was very low, and that shows. We're exporting many pears there and are increasingly getting clients from that part of Europe," says Gerard.
"Demand for apples is also much higher than last year. That's much needed and gives those growers, who face ongoing cost increases, a renewed perspective. Given all the demands placed on fruit and cultivation challenges, it's impossible to grow for a low price. Consumers will have to get used to higher food prices."
Veiling Zaltbommel still bets on the Wellant apple variety, but Bonita is another variety with which the cooperative wants to distinguish itself. "Many new varieties are coming on the market, and several parties approach us, but we're selective. We'll consider a variety if it has the correct growing characteristics and meets taste, appearance, and display life requirements. But the whole story has to be right, and we won't discard the old before we have the new," explains Van den Anker.
In succession, he lists crop protection, labor, energy (tax), and a level playing field as growers' biggest challenges. "The Suzuki fruit fly, pear sucker, and apple blossom weevil are causing fruit growers headaches, but labor costs are challenging, too. Political parties are falling over each other to raise the minimum wage, but we think you can find those gains in the gross-net component. And, for instance, through a tax-friendly scheme that encourages casual labor."
"All these issues make Dutch cultivation all the harder, which concerns me. Greenhouse cultivation supplies seem to get tighter and tighter, especially when it's colder. To offer our auction buyers the full product portfolio, we're supplementing the supply. We're increasingly auctioning imported products to make our supply as complete as possible. And we're getting more and more vegetables and soft fruit brought in from southern Europe," Gerard concludes.
For more information:
Gerard van den Anker
Veiling Zaltbommel
28 Stationsweg
5301 KH, Zaltbommel, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 651 012 063
Email: g.vandenanker@veiling-zaltbommel.nl
Website: www.veilingzaltbommel.nl