The carrot year pf 2022/23 will be remembered as particularly slow. "Drought, coupled with inflation, has resulted in tight supplies and high prices. Compared to last year, when we had a bountiful harvest, this year we not only harvested about 20 percent less produce, but also had to sort out much more. As a result, there has sometimes been a doubling of the price level. This in turn has had an impact on the volume purchased per food retail customer, which is 15-20 percent lower than usual," says Axel Meyer, a carrot producer and processor based in Vögelsen in Lower Saxony.
Due to the relatively meagre stocks, this year's season will end relatively early, Meyer continues. "From today's perspective, we will only be able to fall back on domestic stock carrots for another two to three weeks, after which we will then serve domestic retailers with newer produce from France, Spain or Portugal. However, it can be assumed that the supply situation will continue to be tight in the coming months, and we'll see record prices."
Carrot processing at Axel Meyer. For retailers, the company has already switched predominantly from 2-kg to 1-kg bags due to the shortage of goods, Meyer said.
Delay in the start of the harvest
According to Meyer, the omens for the upcoming German carrot season, which is scheduled to begin at the end of June, are anything but positive. "The cold and wet weather in March as well as April had a corresponding effect on the plants, and I also don't believe that the vegetation will recover much. This is also expected to delay the start of harvest by 10-15 days."
As a specialized grower and trader, the family-owned company offers the full range of carrots. Meyer: "The big hype for snack carrots now seems to be over, especially since neighboring Denmark has greatly expanded cultivation in recent years. Otherwise, the conventional carrot sector is extremely stable. In the case of organic carrots, there are now signs of a decline in consumption due to inflation, which will probably also lead to a reduction in acreage. Interestingly, in other high-priced years, there have always been many farmers who have included carrots in their growing program. However, I don't see that trend this year."
No market recovery expected for the time being
An additional factor, he said, is high operating costs in production and processing, which have risen by a fifth overall. "I expect carrot prices to remain high at the start of the new German crop, or until mid-August. From the summer onwards, market activity can normally be expected to calm down, although it is difficult for us to judge this at the moment. The fact is that at some point the peak for the entire supply chain is also reached, where the product can still be marketed sensibly. In the case of wholesale markets, the market and price situation has already led to a sharp decline in volume purchases."
Images: Axel Meyer Gemüsebau
For more information:
Axel Meyer Gemüsebau
Radbrucher Weg 7
D 21360 Vögelsen
Tel.: +49/4178/899799-0
Fax: +49/4178/899799-91
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.meyer-gemuesebau.de