"Netherlands: "It seems as if the global (euro) crisis largely ignores our trade"

"Summer in the Netherlands actually took quite a normal course with reasonably good summer weather,", says Kees van den Bosch, field vegetables exporter of Freeland, looking back in his newsletter. "There have been a number of wetter and colder periods causing temporary shortages of products, such as lettuce and cauliflower. We managed to cope with these shortages adequately through imports from England, Poland, Germany and Sweden."

"Freeland can look back on the past year with satisfaction. In terms of turnover we grew bigger again, and with products such as leeks, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage, we are amongst the largest exporters in the Netherlands. Compared to last year, demand for many products was a lot higher. We also did not suffer this year from the EHEC crisis we had to deal with last year, but we believe this can not be the sole cause of rising demands. It seems as if the global crisis and the euro crisis largely ignores our trade. Apparently, people will always have a need for fruits and vegetables, whether there is a crisis or not, "says Kees.

The extremely wet period in the United Kingdom led to high demand for lettuce and cabbage in recent weeks. Kees expects that this will continue this season. "In Spain, the weather late in the summer has been extreme, but what the consequences will be for our industry is not yet entirely clear. Spain is slowly entering the iceberg lettuce market, but the quality is still not too good. This is likely to remain a problem until the end of the year - and especially from mid-November to mid-December, because a lot of planting has been washed away."

The Northern European supply also comes to an end soon. The north of the Netherlands will cease this coming weekend. The south of the Netherlands will go on for another one or two weeks. Germany has no more lasting quality for export. The United Kingdom has one more week and Sweden ceases this week ", says the exporter." When the last lettuce from Northern Europe has been supplied, prices are likely to pick up."

For more information:
Freeland bv
Nijbracht 126
7821 CE EMMEN
Tel 0591 670 570
Fax 0591 670 579
info@freeland.nl
www.freeland.nl