At Karlsruhe's wholesale market, spring is traditionally dominated by asparagus and strawberries. Even in times of Corona, the two seasonal classics still dominate the events along the Weinweg, observes Jürgen Weiler, Managing Director of Rolf Koch LLC. "Similar to other years, the first regional strawberries from Oberkirch arrived on Thursday morning."
Italian strawberries are now gradually running out.
The interest shown by the customers on the first marketing day was encouraging, according to the specialist retailer. "Parallel to the first German batches, we are also trading Italian fruit from Basilicata. As usual, German products are €1.50 per kg more expensive at the beginning of the season. However, I expect that the Italian season will now end in a few days."
The other pillars of the classic wholesale trade - such as fruit exotics and air freighted fruits - now play a subordinate role. "Peruvian mangoes of the Kent variety are still selling quite well now, but the season is slowly coming to an end. We will probably receive the final deliveries in about 2 weeks. Avocados from overseas are only available in limited quantities through our Dutch partner."
On the left: The last Italian strawberries of the season
Right: The first regionally cultivated strawberries
'Atypical situation at the Weinweg address'
The consequences of the Corona-crisis were also inevitably felt at the Karlsruhe trading centre. The closure of the gastronomy industry had brought this sales division to a virtual standstill. "Meanwhile, the weekly market and specialist retailers are buying from us as usual, even more than normal. In that sense, our cash-and-carry business has lost hardly any of its vitality and is somewhat untypical in that sense."
Stand manager Jürgen Weiler during Freshplaza's visit to the wholesale store in winter 2018.
All in all, the experienced wholesaler is hoping for a quick end to the current crisis. "We are doing what we can, paying attention to standard hygiene measures. I don't expect any movement at all until June-July, but we hope that the crisis will end soon."
For more information:Rolf Koch GmbH - Fruchtprofis Karlsruhe
Jürgen Weiler
Weinweg 43
Großmarkt Box 20, 58-60
76137 Karlsruhe
[email protected]
www.fruchtprofis-ka.de
