The season of winter vegetables, including carrots, is coming to an end in the south and west of France, but production is still ongoing in the northern regions. “The Landes is finishing this week and the Manche department will finish by the end of the month. We are currently taking over the carrots and cabbages of the other production areas, as we do every year, but at least two weeks ahead this time. The next 3 months will be decisive for our campaign. This year, we hope to be able to supply our clients until the end of May, but this will of course depend on the presence of imported products on the market, on the weather and on consumption,” explains Emmanuel Schaffner, sales manager France at Verduyn.
Constant increase in prices since the beginning of the year
Like for all winter products, carrot prices have also increased due to the lack of volumes. “We are talking about a 25-30% loss of volumes for this season. This has led prices to rise steadily since the beginning of the year. This increase is obviously linked to the shortage of products in other regions, but also to the depreciation of our cold storage with costs related to gas, electricity, inputs, labor and raw materials that have also increased significantly. We want to absorb these costs over the next three months in order to avoid a catastrophic season, already impacted by the lack of volumes.”
Very fluid consumption
Despite the high prices, demand remains fluid. “We are selling about 400 to 500 pallets per day. It is a very satisfactory period in terms of output, keeping in mind that we have not experienced any extreme cold this season. Even if carrot prices have increased, they are still one of the cheapest vegetables on the market. This explains why the end of the season can be very interesting, especially since the quality of our carrots is very good this year.”
This scenario was predicted by the initial forecast early in the season, but the situation is nonetheless unprecedented. “Such price levels and sales are unparalleled in the last 10 years. Even during the Covid pandemic, prices never reached this level. In the current context of uncertainty, we hope this will last, because the survival of our companies depends on it.”
For more information:
Emmanuel Schaffner
Verduyn
Phone: +33 321 73 14 14
Mobile: +33 (0)6 12 85 68 37
emmanuelschaffner@verduyn.fr
http://www.verduyn.fr/fr