Polish consumers are increasingly willing to eat green asparagus, according to the Polish Association of Asparagus Producers. This year, the asparagus season started earlier than usual, in early April, when it normally kicks off around 24 April.
In Poland, about 6 thousand tonnes of asparagus are produced and about 4 thousand tonnes are exported. The country is also a growing importer of asparagus, with Germany and Spain as important suppliers.
As reported by Marian Jakobsze, of the Polish Association of Asparagus Producers, although Polish consumers still prefer white asparagus, they are also more likely to eat green asparagus. Just a few years ago, green asparagus accounted for about 10 percent of the domestic market, and now, according to Jakobsze, this percentage already stands at between 12 and 20 percent.
"Consumers are increasingly buying more green asparagus, not so much because of their palatability, but because of how convenient they are, as they don't need to be peeled and take a shorter time to cook," he said.
The warm weather in March has made the asparagus season start several weeks earlier than usual.
Green and white asparagus could already be harvested in the first days of April, and after two weeks there was a stagnation due to frosts, which caused us to lose our crops, especially the green asparagus. We are now waiting for the weather to warm up in May and we think yields will return to normal," stated Jakobsze.
Source: finanse.wp.pl
