According to Maurice Ott from Sima Vegetables, in the Netherlands, the cabbage market is not doing too badly. "There's some demand throughout Europe. In England and Ireland, that's primarily from the wholesale markets. Demand from processors and supermarkets still has to genuinely get going," he says.
"There's also good demand from Spain. In Poland, prices are now rising due to frost and are the same as in the Netherlands. We're getting inquiries from Polish customers, but they're not buying yet."
"Cabbage prices, like many other open-field vegetables, are good. For white cabbage, that varies," Maurice explains.
"It goes from €0.32 for the larger sizes and €0.60 per kilo. Red cabbage is priced around €0.40 for the larger ones and €0.70 per kilo."
"Cabbage stocks are similar to last year, so slightly lower than normal," says Ott. "But I always say the cards truly get shuffled in Berlin; then you get an idea of what the rest of the season holds. It's somewhat later in the season then, and you have a good idea of how much stock everyone has."
Maurice is confident about the future of cabbage exports. "Weather conditions are becoming increasingly extreme in Europe and elsewhere in the world. We seem to have less of these in the head of North Holland with our mild maritime climate," he concludes.
The RoDeKo trade show took place on Saturday. It is where white and red cabbage growers do things like share knowledge about cultivation, varieties, crop protection, mechanization, and trade.
For more information:
Maurice Ott
Sima Vegetables
Mob: +31 (0) 625 515 333
maurice@simbavegetables.nl