Sales of potatoes and onions are particularly quiet after the turn of the year. "Although we are currently also offering Annabelle potatoes from Cyprus, it is still too early for early potatoes. Strictly speaking, the imported goods are not early potatoes for consumption, but stored potatoes from last year's harvest," says Slave Spaseski, owner of Openica and potato wholesaler at the Berlin wholesale market.
As is well known, the German potato season was characterized by drought and corresponding quality losses, Spaseski continues. "Due to the heat, the proportion of small-caliber potatoes was considerably higher than in other years. This in turn has led to increased rejects and lower marketable volumes. This is especially noticeable in the price later during the storage season. Despite all of this, however, we don't see a significant price difference in potatoes overall compared to other years."
Slave Spaseski (2nd from left) and team at the wholesale stand.
Onions and garlic
In addition to potatoes, the wholesaler is also dedicated to marketing all types of onions. Spaseski: "At the moment we can fall back on onions from Germany and the Netherlands, overall the availability of goods as well as the price level is okay at the moment."
According to Spaseski, the floods in New Zealand, a major onion exporting country, will not be too much of a problem either. "New Zealand onions usually start to come into the trade more from April onwards, but nevertheless they would have more of a supplementary character in the local wholesale market trade. Overall, it's a couple of pallets that we procure and distribute on a weekly basis."
Several varieties of garlic are the company's third, significant product mainstay. "Green garlic grown in Germany is gaining in importance, but the volumes we can source domestically are quite manageable. Meanwhile, the Dutch Biesheuvel company has been able to significantly increase the total volume from its own cultivation," explains Spaseski, who has worked closely with the Dutch trading company Jansen Dongen for many years.
Standard goods in bulk
Openica Kartoffeln & Zwiebeln has been based at the Berlin wholesale market for 25 years now and is primarily dedicated to supplying the catering and specialist retail trade. According to Spaseski, there are no major product trends to be observed. "The classic wholesale market clientele still mainly asks for standard products in bulk. As long as we get a few percent of growth each year, we're happy."
For more information:
Slave Spaseski
Openica GmbH Kartoffeln & Zwiebeln
Großmarkt Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 390 392 71
Fax: +49 30 390 392 73
Email: info@openica.de
www.openica.de