This year's marketing season for organic field vegetables is now gradually coming to an end. "Organic carrots for the fresh market are running out and are expected to be available until the end of the month. The same applies to table potatoes from regional organic cultivation," reports Steffen Mucha, managing director of Bio-Gemüse regional AG, based in Dresden. Founded in 2021, the producer organization is dedicated to marketing regional organic products from Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, serving both the fresh market and the industrial sector.
According to Mucha, the 2024/25 potato season was rather "mixed": "Producer prices were all okay and above last year's level. Yields, on the other hand, were rather below average." In the root vegetable category, the market presents a mixed picture: "For carrots for the fresh market, I would describe prices as unsatisfactory and unattractive from the producer's point of view. In the industrial sector, on the other hand, we are seeing a positive development. Demand from the juice industry is rising, especially for beetroot."
© Hugo Huijbers | FreshPlaza.com
Steffen Mucha at the Bio-Gemüse regional AG stand at this year's Biofach in Nuremberg
Challenging year for onions
In addition to table potatoes and root vegetables, onions from regional organic cultivation are also an important product pillar for the young producer organization. However, Mucha confirms that this year's season has also been quite challenging in this area. "Volumes were quite modest, which led to a price increase of around 25 percent compared to last year for both yellow and red onions. In the case of yellow onions, stocks were largely cleared at the beginning of April, somewhat earlier than usual. There were comparatively more quality problems with red onions, so we had to end the season in mid-February, about a month earlier than usual."
Nevertheless, regional organic onion cultivation has tended to increase in recent years. "Although we continue to see slight growth, I believe that the storage capacity required for this is a limiting factor. We have a fairly stable supplier base across all crops. Our aim is not so much to increase the number of our members, but rather to further exploit the expansion potential of our existing producers," concludes Mucha.
For more information:
Steffen Mucha
Bio-Gemüse regional AG Erzeugerorganisation
Schweriner Str. 48
D-01067 Dresden
Phone +49 351 4905037
[email protected]
www.biogemuese-ag.de
