“Year with unbelievable price-rises for celeriac”

Prices on the celeriac market are at an unbelievably high level this year. “It has actually not been this good for growers in years. The basis for this was laid during the harvest of 2015, when much product was lost, especially in eastern Europe. Demand for celeriac was created early because of this, and early in the season there was speculation that the roots would be expensive. That does not always come true, but it did this time. They are golden balls this year,” manager Gerard Breed of J.H. Wagenaar concludes. The subsidiary company of The Greenery markets and sells all celeriac of grower Vaalburg, or ‘Farmer Ted’ from Zuid-Schermer. Vaalburg washes, cuts and prepackages for Wagenaar in a variety of packaging, starting from the philosophy that healthy soil provides a good product, so pesticides are minimised.

“Price-rises are enormous this year, sometimes with 5 cents per week, while this occurs per month in a regular year. Prices rose sharply in recent weeks especially. It was difficult for sales to keep up with this, and due to this, it has not been easy for traders, because they are not up to date,” says Breed, who cannot remember a similar year for roots. “In recent years you would hope for an increase in price of a few cents per month from January, but the price-making process remained very even in recent years. Last week prices for field crops were already very good at 60 to 65 cents, and for July roots have already been speculatively committed to even higher prices. If that becomes truth, the growers will be proven right, and trade will have to follow with higher prices. I personally do not think it could get much higher at this moment, but time will tell. I feel positive and think a further increase in price could definitely happen.”

“Mid-April I had the feeling that we were already in June, regarding the quick price-making process, but then it still takes a while. We are trying to properly stretch the season until the end of the season, but the end of the season is dictated by new production. When the first new celeriac from Germany enters the market in volumes, our season ends,” Breed continues. When asked if large supplies are still in stock, he answers: “A few things are probably still in storage, but no one knows exactly how much. That is why there is much speculation in that regard. Many growers are anticipating a further increase in price, but there will also be those who would rather not seize the opportunity, which results in, for example, bad parties entering the market. If there are large supplies left, people will have to get rid of their product, which could negatively influence prices. But I personally think the rest of the season will be positive.”

“The celeriac’s quality is good in general and better than in previous years. Because there was not any frost, some roots were still being harvested in January. As a result there was some development in the root, and especially washing plants had trouble with that,” Breed says. According to him supply from other countries is limited. “There is still some Czech product on the market, but that cannot be large supplies, or we would not currently have strong exports. Eastern Europe continues to take the lead and this year we are actually dealing with a structural demand market.”