With the season winding down for Dutch growers, tomato lovers will soon have to rely on import from overseas. Dirk van Nieuwkerk of Anaco Greeve already sees the Dutch tomato supply dwindling. "We expect the first Spanish tomatoes coming in from the Canary Islands. For now though, we get by with the domestic crop, which is still of decent quality."According to Dirk, demand is good. "Eastern Europe isn't buying as much as we'd like, but that's okay. Spain hasn't taken that much either, probably because of the crisis. People over there clearly haven't got much to spend. On the other hand: we did well in Italy. If that is a trend, I'm not sure."
What Dirk is sure about, is that tomato cultivation on the Canary Islands is decreasing. On Tenerife, he says, there are hardly any tomatoes left. "Many growers gave it up because they couldn't find anyone to take over the business. Others have switched to bananas or sold the land because someone gave them a good price for it."