The white and purple cabbage season is nearing its end at TB&S in the Netherlands. "We don't cultivate these for storage," says Coen Swager, looking back on a good season. "Despite the drought, we had good yields, and prices were great all season."
TB&S introduced Violetti purple pointed cabbage several years ago. These are particularly popular with processors. "We have a few more processing industry customers we grow specifically for, so cultivate a little more Violetti. We, thus, have plenty of volume for processing companies," continues Coen. During the Dutch season, this cultivation company also supplies Violetti to some hospitality wholesalers in the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
"We'd expected more interest from retailers, but competing against the normally far cheaper red cabbage is still difficult. This is the first year I've seen red cabbage in stores for prices we'd like to supply the purple pointed cabbage at, too. And retailers would be bringing in a new vegetable to differentiate themselves. The Violetti is great to use, for example, as a salad or stir-fries, so it's much more versatile."
Savoy pointed cabbage
From next year, TB&S will have another new vegetable, savoy pointed cabbage, in-house. "We already have some programs planned towards Scandinavia, but we hope Dutch supermarkets will also want to introduce this vegetable. Most retailers no longer offer savoy cabbage because of the shelf space it takes up, making this smaller savoy cabbage a fantastic alternative," explains Coen.
Besides its farm in the Netherlands, TB&S also has a considerable acreage of butternut, pointed cabbage, and savoy cabbage in Alpiarca, Portugal. "We've already planted the first purple and green pointed cabbage there. We'll start the new Portuguese season in late February when the stored pointed cabbage season is over."
Portuguese pointed cabbage does not only head to the Netherlands; last summer, substantial quantities of Dutch pointed cabbage also went that way. "They had shortages in Portugal at one point," says Swager, and we could respond nicely to that."
TB&S also cultivates organically in Portugal and Spain. "That's fairly stable, and there's an especially good demand for organic cabbage from Scandinavia. However, the price difference with conventional cabbage will again determine what the new organic season will bring," Coen concludes.
For more information:
TB&S
1 Vronermeerweg
Tel: +31 (0) 653 498 460
Email: info@spitskool.com
Website: www.spitskool.com
Website: www.violetti.nl