There are currently not many complaints on the chicory market. "It is very busy. The supermarkets are draining us completely," says Dennis Blankendaal of Frysk Witlof. The company annually produces between 250 and 280 hectares of chicory from roots of Dutch and Belgian origin, making it the largest chicory company in the Netherlands.
With the holidays ahead, the grower expects demand to hold up reasonably well. "Pricing is now at a high level around 1.60 Euro per kilo. It will not remain that extreme, but I expect that towards Christmas people will continue to buy chicory at a good rate. In general we are seeing more appreciation for chicory than was the case a few years ago."
"Fortunately, the cultivation is looking good. There were a lot of problems in the root cultivation, which led to a shortage of roots. That is why it could be a strange year. We currently have mainly Belgian roots and they are looking good, with the exception of some leaf miners," says the grower.
"With the new construction of ten harvest cells in 2017 and eleven harvest cells in 2019, but also the optimisation of the cultivation, processing and packaging lines, we have made very significant investments and we are now benefiting from that. The roots you plant in a plot are precious, you have to harvest them under the perfect conditions. We do everything we can," Dennis concludes.
For more information:
Dennis Blankendaal
Frysk-Witlof 
Frjentsjerterdyk 12
8855 XC Sexbierum
T: +31 (0)517 59 27 72
M: +31 (0)6 83 98 64 24
E: Dennis@frysk-witlof.nl
www.frysk-witlof.nl