The Gemüsering Group is one of the largest fruit and vegetable companies in Germany, which also includes companies such as Kärcher and Andretta, which together with the Gemüsering itself are located at the Stuttgart wholesale market. Freshplaza.de spoke to sales manager Markus Keller on site. "We deliver about 800 pallets a day from here to the central warehouses of the retail chains. We ourselves have four trucks of our own at our disposal, with the majority being delivered via haulage companies that transport the goods exclusively with vehicles that have our imprint on them."
Markus Keller. Photo: Gemüsering
Cabbages, salads and carrots are among the best-selling products
"Some producers with whom we have maintained close cooperation for many years are exclusive partners of various food retail chains. For example, the vegetable farm of the Hagdorn family from Hochdorf supplies the food retail trade with tomatoes all year round," Keller emphasises. He estimates that about ten percent of the vegetable ring's goods are exported, for example to Eastern Europe.
As the name suggests, the Stuttgart-based company's product range consists mainly of vegetables, with the best-selling products being cabbage, lettuce and carrots, says Keller.
A truck of the Gemüsesering
Imported carrots on offer longer
From March to the end of May, carrots from Spain and Italy were available to the Gemüsering, after which they turned their attention to marketing carrots from German production. "This year, the share of imported carrots was on offer for about two and a half months. In comparison, the foreign produce was only offered in Germany for about four weeks last year. That is why the carrots were more expensive this year. Less was grown abroad this year because last year hardly any quantities were imported into Germany. This year, however, everyone is again looking a lot for quantities. Most of the carrots were sourced from Spain and Italy."
Both the carrots and the cabbage vegetables were quite high-priced this season. "The products cannot grow out properly, especially since you have to plan for a lot of water. In the case of cabbage, certain calibres are also missing as a result. In the Netherlands you can see that the yield per hectare is much lower and meanwhile much less is stored, but sold directly."
Kärcher at the Stuttgart wholesale market. Photo: Gemüsering
The main buyer of Gemüsering goods is conventional food retailers. "The wholesale market business is stable. We are not registering any downward changes. Of course, 20 years ago the wholesale market was bigger, but that was due to the fact that the food retailers bought their goods locally. At that time, there were also no deliveries to the fruit and vegetable shops," Keller describes. "But for the last ten years, business has remained constant. We still see our future at the wholesale market and are sticking to it. We can also generate strong sales in the catering trade again. The only problems are with regard to the lack of staff at the catering businesses, which often leaves the shops closed in the afternoon."
Weather-related changes in production
For other crops, such as strawberries, the farmers are now dependent on plastic sheeting. On the other hand, traditional outdoor cultivation is dwindling for this product. "I know fewer and fewer farms that grow strawberries outdoors. Protected cultivation is steadily increasing." It can also be observed that the share of potted and bale lettuces is increasing massively. "This is basically industrial production. However, one must also emphasise that between five and ten million heads of lettuce come out of a 'factory', for which, on the other hand, large areas of land are no longer needed, which is of great importance, especially with regard to various future issues, such as water scarcity and resource conservation."
Photo: Gemüsering
Further information:
Markus Keller
Gemüsering Stuttgart GmbH
Langwiesenweg 30
70327 Stuttgart
Telefon: +49 711 168650
Telefax: +49 711 1686599
E-Mail: [email protected]
Webseite: https://www.gemuesering.de
