Belgian greenhouse vegetables are having quite a hard time at the moment. "Productions are all on par, but vacation time has started in many European countries, so demand is lagging slightly," begins Maarten Verhaegen BelOrta's Vegetable Division Manager.
There are certainly plenty of tomatoes this week, he says. "Last week, sales were still reasonably smooth, but this week, there's unexpectedly much production. Most growers and traders had thought less was going to come in. Prices, which normalized last week, reflected that. However, plenty of supply arrived unexpectedly, which unfortunately caused prices to plummet."
Maarten thinks things should improve by late next week. "There's significant competition from Poland and its neighbors for fruiting vegetables like bell peppers and tomatoes. Their prices are low, which doesn't help. Also, important export destinations, like Germany and especially France, have a lot of their own production on the market. Nonetheless, we expect that to change by the end of next week because of those countries' temperatures. It looks hopeful, but this week will still be hard," he says.
Half the growers switch back to tomatoes
Cucumber production's recent setback seems to be a thing of the past. "Growers who didn't originally grow cucumbers eagerly started planting these early this year because last year's prices were so good. Plus, there were problems with ToBRFV in tomatoes. Yet, tomato prices were more than decent for a long time, while cucumber prices were dramatically low."
"What followed was that several companies switched back to tomato or other fruiting vegetable cultivation—also, capitalizing on the fact that some growers will make room for lit crops within a few weeks. Of the growers who switched to cucumbers last year, we expect 50% will return to growing tomatoes or other fruiting vegetables," says Maarten.
Don't just switch
The same thing that happened with cucumbers last year now threatens to affect specialty tomato crops. "Those have done well this year. That often leads to growers considering planting more. I want to put that into perspective. You must remember there are more than ten percent fewer tomato specialties this season than last year. That explains the higher prices. Those prices would've been much lower if we'd been at last year's level."
"We're expecting expansion, though, also because several breeders claim to have developed highly resistant varieties. Increasingly in the specialties, too. People are looking into that anyway," explains Maarten, who wants to temper expectations.
"The same applies to pointed sweet peppers. Those have sold for decent prices at auction. However, growers aren't getting the prices people are getting from Belgium. Specialty tomatoes and pointed peppers remain niche products. A five percent increase can, thus, greatly affect sales. You must keep that in mind."
Growing under lights again
Looking to the fall, Maarten expects lit cultivation to pick up considerably again. "Around 70% of Belgian growers will start that again. Some will begin later, so they won't be on the market in the first weeks of 2024. Still, there should be sufficient product over the winter in the Benelux to supply everyone," he concludes.
For more information:
Maarten Verhaegen
BelOrta
120 Mechelsesteenweg
2860, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, BE
Tel.: +32 (0) 155 51 111
Email: info@belorta.be
www.belorta.be