The cabbage market is currently under a little pressure. Despite this, Kees Stoop of RoDeKo is looking forward to the season with confidence. RoDeKo is a Dutch growers association for Danish ballhead and red cabbage farmers.
"The early and autumn varieties have been sold, so the market is nice and empty. We are also benefiting from the extreme weather hitting other parts of the world. For example, it has been very wet in the United Kingdom and dry in Eastern Europe. That is good for us. Our yields have been excellent."
"Last year, was, of course, an extreme year. Prices shot up past €1. This last happened in 1976. With this new crop, the season is very different again. But, you know that beforehand. Growers are now harvesting for storage. So, there is not that much pressure to have to make sales," says Kees.
Last year's extremes did not lead to any significant changes in acreage. This is according to Stoop. "There are slightly more early cabbages. The size of the storage cabbage area has, however, remained virtually the same."
Dutch cabbage is mostly sent across the border. "There a few farmers in the Netherlands who grow, on contract, for the local supermarkets. They are completely geared toward that. However, 80 to 90% of the total volume goes overseas. The Eastern European countries are our biggest buyers."
Kees cites the increase in machine cutters as the most significant development in the cabbage market. "This solves the labor problem. This type of mechanical cutting is going very well. However, there are still a lot of issues with damage when the cutting nozzle is transported to the crates. A lot of work is being done to find a solution to this."