"What we earned last summer we are now spending"

Last year there were high hopes for a good chicory year, but it has been tough since November. According to grower Gijs Dongen of Nature's Gold, the summer went well. "Unfortunately it was a decreasing line since November. We didn't expect this, as that month usually goes well. So far there have been almost no revivals, even around the holidays."

Dramatic
He says the situation at the moment is more understandable. "If it isn't very wintry at the beginning of February the market is always mediocre. Prices are dramatically bad at the moment and vary from 20 to 40 cents. We are using what we made last summer." He doesn't think there is a lot less demand than usual. "The problem is that there is too much production structurally. A lot of cells are full again. I don't have a very good oversight as to whether productions are higher or lower compared to last year."

Good year
Gijs was hoping for a good year. "You know somewhere that there isn't less production, as few growers dropped out, but you still have positive expectations. If we can't ensure that the consumption of chicory stabilises instead of decreasing so quickly, the cold rehabilitation will continue slowly. It's difficult to predict what will happen with the price. It's impossible to predict, but there is hope for a nice spring and summer."

The Dutch company Nature's Gold has been growing chicory for years and sells its product through the Belgian auction BelOrta. Despite the difficult market Gijs van Dongen has faith in the BelOrta commercial team. "Despite the difficult market situation for chicory at the moment, the team is working very hard to get the best for the growers every day."

For more information:
Gijs van Dongen
Nature's Gold Production B.V.
Meirseweg 37
4881 MJ Zundert
T: 0031 (0)76 5974403
E: gijs@naturesgold.nl
W: www.naturesgold.nl