The market newsletter KW 22/15 of the German Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), shows that the German lettuce, mainly iceberg lettuce, dominated the market in the week after Pentecost, 25- 31 May. At the wholesale markets in Frankfurt and Cologne iceberg lettuce from Holland completed the supply while in Hamburg and Berlin the range was completed with Spanish lettuce. The prices of German iceberg lettuce lay roughly at the previous year's level, about 0.55 Euro per head of iceberg lettuce (2014: 0.54 Euro). As a result of low demand and a large availability, prices stagnated at the current level. Only at the Munich wholesale market could prices be raised by an increase in quality of the lettuce heads.
Average prices of iceberg lettuce © BLE
Lettuce: Average prices in Germany © BLE
The supply of German mixed salads increased, yet prices due to low demand are reduced.
Fresh endive from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy has reached the market. But the demand was not particularly high, causing prices to go down. The price for German endive dropped from 0.90 Euro to 0.80 Euro. Belgian varieties got higher prices. The prices rose from 1.25 Euro per salad to 1.29 Euro over one week.
Overview lettuce: average prices compared © BLE
It is evident that in general the prices for the lettuce varieties are stagnant or falling with the only exception being endives from Belgium. Since 2010, the import of lettuce has fallen from 117,159 metric tons to 88,611 metric tons in 2014. The majority of import originated from EU countries. Last year, the majority of lettuce came from Spain (49419 metric tons), Italy (15,193 metric tons), Belgium (11,086 metric tons) and the Netherlands (6,462 metric tons).
For more information and graphics, in German:
BLE Marktbericht KW 22/15 Marktüberblick Salat
