After a hectic December, a period of calm is traditionally seen after the turn of the year. "Christmas sales were roughly similar to those in other years. The usual suspects, first and foremost clementines, nuts and lamb's lettuce were again in particularly high demand this year," says Mustafa Kamcili, managing director of Morgenland Ltd & Co., based at the Düsseldorf wholesale market.
"Clementines were in sufficient supply to meet demand. Their prices could be raised again at Christmas. There was also enough lamb's lettuce, which we procured from several sources, for example from the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, so that we were able to meet all requests," Kamcili added.
Mustafa Kamcili, Managing Director of Morgenland.
Decline in demand for nuts and dried fruit
The only negative exception to this year's Christmas sales were nuts, the Düsseldorf native continues. "The marketing of nuts did not do as well as in in other years. Normally we have been able to distribute 1.5 to 2 pallets per week of walnuts, but this year sales were much slower. This may also be due to the fact that we source most of our walnuts from Spain and they are priced a little higher than the French product. In times of rising inflation, people tend to switch to somewhat lower-priced goods. There was also a drop in demand for dried fruit, such as dates, figs and apricots."
Difficult exotics market
Inflationary increases are also reflected in wholesale fruit and vegetable prices, according to Kamcili. "Overall, price levels have remained about the same in terms of fruit. Vegetables, on the other hand, have seen significant increases in price, especially lettuces and, more recently, cucumbers."
The Morgenland company has been in the flower hall at the Düsseldorf wholesale market for several years. Kamcili: "Our assortment is 80 to 90 percent fruit. Exotics are difficult to market at the moment, as supply often exceeds demand for these products."
For more information:
Mustafa Kamcili
Morgenland GmbH & Co. KG
Großmarkt Düsseldorf
Mobile: +49 173 290 8237
[email protected]