Normally the Dutch cauliflower growers reckon that once in five years the cultivation of winter cauliflower will be lost through frost. The last four years the Dutch winter cauliflower, however, has frozen, so the growers can't start harvesting until late May instead of early April. Outdoor vegetable merchant Bertus van Tricht from Vogel AGF puts the European cauliflower image in The Netherlands in perspective. "The share of Dutch cauliflower decreases in comparison the local crops in other European countries."
"The cultivation of winter cauliflower was always a gamble, but now we lost for the last four years. You expect that you can start with Dutch cauliflower on the 1st of April. We had Spanish arrivals scheduled to the end March, but on reflection you would prefer them to stay longer," says Bertus. "Normally you have six weeks of winter cauliflower, then spend two weeks getting supplies from Belgium and then in late May with the first Dutch cauliflower. The Dutch cauliflower season normally runs through to November."
Competition
"The competition for Dutch cauliflower is increasing, it is resulting in a declining area in the Netherlands," says the trader. "Twenty percent of our cauliflower will still be exported, but also sales countries are not standing still and are becoming more self sufficient. Local-for-local cauliflower in the world has also been introduced, often encouraged by subsidies from Brussels. Germany is growing more and more for the domestic market and Belgium is growing increasingly more cauliflowers for the fresh market, whereas they used to only be grown only for the industry. Also from countries like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic we will face increasing competition from the summer crop. For years we have worked with Polish people and they take the growing knowledge home with them, often promoted by the seed companies. The United Kingdom has year round cauliflower and we can only deliver when the whole country is flooded, as was the case five years ago."
France
France in the winter months still Europe's largest supplier of cauliflower. Bertus expects this to continue. "The French cauliflower acreage is an unprecedented 25,000 hectares. In the Netherlands, there is only about 2,500 hectares. In France they do have to contend with colder weather, but the cultivation area is so great that one can always deliver cauliflower. However, customers prefer the taste of the Spanish cauliflower. There has been a lot of extreme weather in Spain the last five years."
The niche products such as orange and purple cauliflower according to the trader does not make a difference. There's a few times during the year, such as during tournaments and parades where demand is good, but consumers often think of these products as "chemical". Then the fun, after several years of trying, passes quickly. We will simply have to do the pearly white cauliflower! "