In line with the season, demand for endive fell noticeably in recent weeks. "Demand was high and stable until the end of April, but was somewhat more subdued in May. However, there was another surge at the end of the month, thanks to the slightly colder weather. In calendar week 23/24, demand returned to normal summer levels," summarizes Stephan Klünemann, managing director of Goldköpfe GmbH and endive producer in Emsland, Germany.
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Last fall, Stephan Klünemann converted his farm in Niederlangen, which was built a few years ago, to a conventional forcing facility.
As part of the change in marketing last fall, the Niederlangen site, which was originally geared toward organic production, was converted to a conventional operation. Together with Gemüsering, up to 30 tons are now produced here every week and marketed exclusively. Meanwhile, an organic forcing facility has been set up on his parents' farm in Geeste, which now operates under the name Bio-Goldköpfe GmbH and is also open all year round. Klünemann: "In summer, we have a capacity utilization of around 80 percent. Certain food retail customers don't list the product at all in summer, although we also have customers who still have a promotional campaign planned for calendar week 26."
© Hugo Huijbers | FreshPlaza.com
Overall, Klünemann can look back on a good marketing year with consistently good quality and low disease pressure. "During the transition phase from the old to the new root harvest in November, prices were as high as EUR 3/kg. Prices remained relatively stable until the turn of the year, after which they tended to fall again. As our forcing facility was only converted shortly before the new season, we had no access to conventional roots from contract farming, so we had to buy in additional produce. Here, we benefited particularly from the abundant root harvest and the correspondingly good supply situation."
© Hugo Huijbers | FreshPlaza.com
Left: Packaged endive for the German food retail trade. Right: Fresh endive in the forcing cell.
Endive as a future market in Germany
The German endive market has been on an upward trend for several years, according to Klünemann, who has been dedicated to endive production since 2018. "Although we are still a long way from consumption levels in traditional chicory countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium, per capita consumption has risen to around 300 g/year in recent years. The north is still lagging behind eastern and southern Germany, but this is probably because there were only a few regional producers for a long time. Now that we can offer both regional organic and conventional endive, we hope for further positive momentum."
© Hugo Huijbers | FreshPlaza.com
Kerstin Klünemann is responsible for the organic production at the Geeste site.
With Gemüsering, Klünemann now has a reliable marketing partner and shareholder with a broad sales market behind it. However, the roots still come from the neighboring Netherlands. "There is interest in root cultivation among producers, and we already have a producer in the region who will grow a small trial quantity for us this year. The product is establishing itself, which will also make root cultivation more attractive," he concludes.
For more information:
Stephan Klünemann
Goldköpfe GmbH
Luddenfehn 29
49779 Niederlangen
Tel: +49 176 63324383
[email protected]
Bio-Goldköpfe GmbH
Im Feld 20
49744 Geeste
Dr Lukas Scholz
TOGAZ - Thüringer Obst und Gemüseabsatzzentrale GmbH
Rudolstädter Straße 100a
99099 Erfurt
[email protected]
www.togaz.de
