As a market leader on the Dutch pepper market Valstar Holland has peppers available almost all year round. "There is only a small gap of a few weeks in December," says Robbert van Essen, who is responsible for the pepper sales.
"At the moment the import is declining quickly and more and more Dutch peppers are coming onto the market. The import season didn't run itself. The prices are at a low level and didn't scramble up until the last month. Israel supplied lesser quality product than in previous years and Spain had a large volume available."
"The supply of Dutch peppers is still limited, which means the prices are at a good level at the moment. The kilo price for red peppers is around 6 Euro and around 4 Euro for green peppers. The numbers won't increase until the end of the month, so the prices will remain stable for a while," expects Robbert.
According to the trader the total Dutch pepper area has remained reasonably stable. Besides their own Dutch growers Valstar also receives peppers supplied by a Belgian horticulturist. Some come from the cultivation under light.
The trader says the demand for special varieties stands out. "The Jalapeño, Habanero and Naga Jolokia pepper are popular at the moment. As far as this trend is concerned, the weirder and hotter, the better! The prices are at a level of around 6/7 Euro for the Jalapeño and even at 8-10 Euro per kilo for the Habaneros. The demand for these special peppers is especially good from the export markets. We further extended the export to the United States last year."
For more information:
Robbert van Essen
Valstar Holland
ABC Westland 110
2685 DB Poeldijk
T: +31 174 530817
F: +31 174 530888
R.vanEssen@valstar.nl
www.valstar.nl