This year's potato marketing season is now in its final spurt. "Alternative goods are being phased out: hardly any goods are still available on the open market and are traded at higher prices; in food retailing, some chains have already switched to imported goods for the most part. But there are also some who want to offer alternative potatoes from Lower Saxony until the start of the new harvest," describes Jochen Entrup, potato wholesaler and managing director of the Holdorf-based company of the same name.
Among
others, early potatoes from Egypt, Israel, Spain as well as Cyprus are currently being traded. "The drought has affected early potato production in Spain and Italy, but in Cyprus the situation is not so tense. These are traded at high prices, as most of the imported goods have already been disposed of, which is expected to continue following the German early potato season. For climate reasons, we import very little ourselves and try to trade in regional ware potatoes for as long as possible, even during the final phase of the season," says Entrup (pictured above right). In terms of price, the German ware is now at 32 euros/100kg.
Although the first early potatoes from Lower Saxony are already being offered in isolated cases, the official starting signal will not be given for a good month, according to Entrup. "At the end of June, I expect the first market-relevant quantities. That is, there will probably be a slight delay of about week. Meanwhile, due to the wet conditions in the fields, the planting of storage potatoes has also been delayed somewhat. In the longer term, we see that the industrial sector is gradually gaining in importance, while the edible sector is somewhat stagnant."
In addition to growing and selling table and industrial potatoes, Kartoffel Entrup is also dedicated to marketing regional table onions. "The onion market is much tighter compared to potatoes. In particular, prices for yellow onions have risen extremely and now remain at a level of 80-100 euros/100kg. Red onions, on the other hand, are trading at much lower prices, which is due to the relatively good supply situation," Entrup concludes.
The company premises of Entrup in Holdorf in Lower Saxony
Tight supply situation characterizes onion market
Imports from several countries also dominate the onion market during the second half of the season. Due to the flooding in March, however, there would now also be significantly less quantity available in the important export country of New Zealand. The first domestic onions are expected to be available by mid-July, Entrup predicts. "We don't expect any harvest delays for now, despite the weather, and any effects usually show up later in the season."
Although the onion season of 22/23 will be remembered primarily as laborious, the edible onion in the state of Lower Saxony has obviously increased in recent years, he said. "Onion cultivation is undoubtedly gaining in importance, and the area under cultivation is tending to expand, especially in the Hanover region and on the Lüneburg Heath," Entrup concludes.
For more information:
Jochen Entrup
Kartoffel-Entrup GmbH & CO. KG
Gewerbering 3
49451 Holdorf
Tel.: +49 5494 408
Fax: +49 5494 1838
E-Mail: info@kartoffel-entrup.de
Website: www.kartoffel-entrup.de