Netherlands: Carrot harvest is progressing steadily

The carrot harvest is progressing steadily at the moment. "The harvest is approaching its end in the north and in the Flevopolders. Harvesting is proving more difficult in the heavy, wet clay of the south west, Belgium and Wallonia," says Kees Heegsma of the eponymous field vegetables trader from Lemmer." Yields are good, and all harvests went better than expected. The cold storage houses will undoubtedly fill up."

All the cold storage houses were trading up to a month ago, when the harvest was expected to be sub par. At the moment, demand is low from the export markets. Limited amounts are shipping to Eastern Europe and some are going to England, but they are not large volumes," says Kees. "On top of that, there is plenty of Polish produce on the market. They offer a qualitatively equivalent product for a few cents less."

"If the weather circumstances don't change, I expect prices to remain around this level," concludes the trader. "It all looks good qualitatively and we have a better starting point than last year."

For more information:
Kees Heegsma
Heegsma BV
Straatweg 74
8531 PZ Lemmer
Tel: 0031 514-569224
Fax: 0031 514-569397
www.heegsmabv.nl