The last bush and princess beans of this year's season have already been harvested at the Lampertheim nursery in southern Hesse. "I would describe the 2023 bean year as positive, mixed. The yields were, by and large, okay. That is, the season got off to a good start, but then we had a bit of a weaker period due to weather. Towards the end of the season, the yields were again pleasing," bean producer Michael Schmidt describes on request.
Schmidt's farm mainly grows bush beans (about 70 percent), supplemented by princess beans. Cultivation capacity has remained virtually the same in recent years, according to Schmidt, who markets a large part of his yields through the Palatinate market. "Tendentially, demand this year has been average, not exceptionally high. My impression is that competition from imported products, such as those from Morocco, has not particularly increased during the domestic season in recent years, but rather has declined slightly."
Domestic bush beans are mainly found in 500g tubular bags at the POS.
Personnel and production costs
Bean growers are also faced with increased production costs. "We are not only talking about fertilizers, but also processing costs, i.e. increased minimum wages. Even though the bean is comparatively not particularly costly to prepare, we still need staff for manual inspection to prepare the goods accordingly, which is definitely noticeable in the total," Schmidt calculates.
"In terms of cultivation, it was a good year, but marketing was challenging at times, especially since we were only able to pass on some of the additional costs," concludes the vegetable producer. Especially in the area of beans, he says, the task must be faced of continuing to present the product attractively in the future. "In the near future, for example, I could imagine processed products, such as beans without tops, so that the consumer has less effort on the product in the kitchen. The only question is whether German food retailers are also prepared to offer such concepts on a larger scale."
Further information:
Michael Schmidt
Gemüsebau Schmidt
In den Böllenruthen 12
68623 Lampertheim
Tel: 06206 911009
E-Mail: [email protected]
Webseite: www.schmidt-lampertheim.de