Italian asparagus price holds up on European markets

"We launched the green and white asparagus campaign at the end of February and the demand was very good. The weather was mild and good for farming. In early March, thunderstorms caused some difficulties, particularly during the harvesting, when huge amounts of water fell in a matter of hours. The plants were under a lot of stress and the yields dropped. We had a number of problems in the countryside, which not only increased the cost of the harvest but also made it more difficult because of the mud that flooded the land. Fortunately, the bad weather is over now", says Michele Baraldo, owner of Agricola Baraldo, together with his brothers Fabio and Andrea, located in the province of Padua (Veneto - Italy), in Pernumia, an area at the foot of the Euganean Hills of volcanic origin, ideal for the production of asparagus and vegetables.

"The domestic market, especially at the beginning, was not too encouraging, whereas exports, on the other hand, recorded significant sales. White and green asparagus is very popular abroad, especially in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. These are countries where consumers demand the highest quality and are therefore prepared to pay large sums to secure part of the very small initial quantities. On the other hand, as far as the domestic market is concerned, the prices were initially considered to be too high and, in fact, I believe that the greatest consumption of this product will take place as soon as the quantities increase, and the prices drop."

"It is useful to point out that the cost of producing asparagus is increasing year on year, due to the increasing shortage of labor - which has had a major impact because of manual harvesting, processing, packaging and all the costs of running and managing the production plants. In fact, if we add up the total cost of asparagus production - and take into account the history of previous marketing years - perhaps the bar for the maximum price obtained should be raised even higher, as happens abroad for this crop, which is well remunerated at the production stage precisely by taking into account the total cost of production."

"White asparagus continues to be well priced and it's doing well abroad. The price is holding up considering that volumes have also increased. Our expectation is that the demand for asparagus will be good until Easter, with prices fairly stable. It's too early to say what the situation will be from April onwards, as we have no idea what to expect, especially in terms of weather and consumption."