"Finally more potatoes from Malta"

The Maltese potato season started at Potato trader Altena from Wijk en Aalburg at the start of last month. "The supply has been quite mediocre, but will really get going this week, especially the Alpha's," says Kees Schouten. He has been working with the Maltese potato company Quality Fruit & Vegetables, where Raphael Scerri is in charge, for years. The Maltese potatoes are put in rows by a harvester and then hand placed in 25 kg crates and taken to the sorting and packaging stations.

"There will be a lot less Maltas this year and the supply from the production areas in Cyprus, Morocco and Spain aren't looking great either, so the total supply is limited. The 25 kilo bags for the market traders went reasonable well, but the sales to the retail didn't. On the other hand, this was good, as there weren't any stocks. What came in, went right out again," says Kees.

The prices for the imported potatoes tend to be at a set level, and Kees doesn't expect a change in this any time soon. "The potatoes don't have the coarseness from previous years, but the quality is fine. We will continue with the Malta potatoes until the Dutch Dorés are being packaged, but they're not expected to be very early this year. I think we'll be offering Maltas until at least the end of June."

More information:
Aardappelgroothandel Altena B.V.
Oude Kerkstraat 23
4261 BL Wijk en Aalburg
Tel: +31(0) 416 691241+31(0) 416 691241
Fax: +31(0) 416 692822
info@altena-bv.nl
www.altena-bv.nl