But why Migros takes an action with asparagus imports in a period where there is domestic asparagus on the market? "The Swiss asparagus quantities are insufficient to cover the demand," says Migros spokesman Urs Peter Naef. The range of Swiss asparagus covers less than 1 percent of annual demand. "We would like to sell more Swiss asparagus, but we can not come to the quantities needed."
Timo Weber, domain leader market and politics at the VSGP association, confirms that the Swiss products are not in state to cover up the need of its own by a long shot: "During the peak season make Swiss asparagus about 20 to 30 percent of the market volume. Over the entire year, the proportion of Swiss green asparagus was only 4 to 5 percent."
Het teeltgebied is de laatste jaren weliswaar toegenomen, maar de nieuwe gebieden zullen pas in de toekomst asperges opleveren. Weber noemt echter nog een reden waarom er niet meer Zwitserse asperges geteeld worden: „Asperges telen en oogsten is erg arbeidsintensief en er is veel handwerk mee gemoeid. Omdat dit in Zwitserland meer kost, zijn Zwitserse asperges dan ook duurder dan geïmporteerde waren.“
The cultivated area in recent years has increased, but the new areas will appear in the future asparagus yield. Weber cites yet another reason why no more Swiss asparagus are grown: "Asparagus growing and harvesting is very labor intensive and there is a lot of handwork involved. Because it costs more in Switzerland, Swiss asparagus are more expensive than imported goods."