The clock sales of Spanish vegetables at ZON started off slowly this year. "Just like other years, we started supplying courgette and aubergine around week 43/44, but various products such as tomatoes and some field crops started significantly later this season. Particularly, the availability of tomatoes has been very low so far this year, as a result of a hot summer - and hence the risk of viruses - planting was delayed. Now, the supply of different types of tomatoes is slowly starting with limited volumes. For instance, last week, we started auctioning the first cherry and cocktail tomatoes, but we have not started with all the other types of tomatoes yet," says clock sales manager Els van Herpen.
"The sale of Spanish peppers also had a slower start in the initial weeks, probably because there was still Dutch product on the market. However, the demand is now beginning to increase. We first saw a positive turnaround in the sale of red peppers. Since this week, we have also seen a positive shift in the sale of yellow, green, and orange peppers. The cucumber supply also started later, all in all, a very different season start than other years," observes Els.
For field vegetables, the situation is no different. "We only started supplying Spanish broccoli two weeks ago, much later than other years. The heat in Murcia caused a standstill in production. The prices of Spanish cauliflower and broccoli have significantly increased. This season, the supply of iceberg lettuce also started later. The price formation of this remained behind in the past weeks."
This year, ZON is working with the same Spanish suppliers as last year. However, the product range has been expanded again. This year, we started auctioning Spanish mini cucumbers. "We also supply these in the summer from our own growers, and that distribution went well right away," says Els. "We also started selling Little Gem, but these sales are currently more challenging, as is the case with all lettuce types."
Whether the demand from clock customers for Spanish vegetables will increase in the run-up to the holidays, Els doubts. "We are completely dependent on the availability of the product in the market. In any case, I am glad that we see a positive turnaround in demand this week and hope that it continues."
For more information:
ZON
Venrayseweg 102
5928 RH, Venlo
Tel.: +31 (0)77 3239758
els.van.herpen@royalzon.com
www.royalzon.com