Belgian winter vegetables currently find themselves in a demand market. "Almost all those vegetables are well priced," begins Guy De Meyer of Demargro. "The cold weather means demand is good, and, for now, the supply can't quite keep up."
"Leeks are particularly hard to come by. The recent snowfall is creating plenty of demand from England, where they can't grow any leeks. Plus, less can be processed because many producers' workers are going home for the holidays." So, there is high demand but limited supply. "Early this week, prices were around €1.30/kg; that's a lot. The sales countries we mainly operate in, like France and Spain, simply won't pay that. In France, prices were around €0.90 per kilo. We could never compete with that," Guy admits.
This situation actually applies to many of the 'traditional winter vegetables'. "All types of cabbage are also far pricier than last year. White, red, and savoy cabbage sales are all running smoothly above the euro mark. Considering that in 2021 these sold for €0.35, that's quite a difference."
But, the exporter foresees a market turnabout toward the new year. "Temperatures are rising, so I believe prices will slowly drop toward an acceptable level. To below a euro may be asking a bit much, but I think prices will certainly become acceptable," says Guy.
From January, no strawberries or tomatoes
It is an entirely different story with the 'summer vegetables'. "At the beginning of this week, vine tomatoes were being auctioned for €0.90/kg. That's dirt cheap. When you see how much energy costs have risen, that's too cheap for Belgian growers. Spain, Turkey, and Morocco have fixed much of their produce, so supermarkets have no choice but to buy it here too. Since there are Belgian tomatoes as well, there's a market surplus and spotty prices."
De Meyer thinks much of that supply will fall away in January. "Growers are still letting their plants grow for a while, but by mid-January, most will have stopped cultivating tomatoes. The prices they're getting now are just not profitable," he explains. Guy expects a similar scenario for Belgian strawberries. "There, the last volumes are gradually being reached. Last week, these were still relatively cheap, but early this week, those prices increased."
"That's normal; strawberry demand always picks up around Christmas. However, it seems few overseas strawberries are arriving by boat, so prices are rising. For good Belgian strawberries, we're talking roughly €5/punnet. Since most of the supply will be gone in January, I only see those prices going up."
Hand on their purse strings
As the festive season approaches, the trader sees that shoppers are more careful with their purchases. "There's little in genuine demand towards the end of the year. Pear sales are reasonably smooth, but generally, people are keeping a bit of a hand on their purse strings. The crisis seems to be increasingly affecting buying behavior. People are paying more and more attention to prices during end-of-year purchases; at least that's what we notice," Guy concludes.
For more information:
Guy De Meyer
Demargro
11 Tombrug Street
8850, Ardooie, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 517 47 075
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.demargro.be