European consumer interest in whole cabbage has grown. Pointed cabbage shows especially nice growth figures, says market expert Wilco van den Berg. He elaborated on that during Bejo's Cabbage Symposium in the Netherlands.
The EU cultivates some three billion kilos of cabbage heads annually. Poland leads the ranking with about 700 million kilos. The Netherlands follows in fifth place (160 million kilos in 2022). Besides sales on the local market, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain are Dutch cabbages' top sales countries.
White and pointed cabbage are essential ingredients in Dutch supermarkets' fresh processed assortment. That includes nasi, bami, and spaghetti packs. Sauerkraut is also a popular item in the Netherlands. During the pandemic, sauerkraut demand was extra high.
And in the first eight months of 2023, supermarket sales increased by 18% compared to 2022. Point cabbage, both processed and whole, is the most sold cabbage in the Dutch supermarket within the cabbage category. In Germany, pointed cabbage is doing well, too, with a 50% sales growth over the past five years.
Pointed cabbage was the vegetable most people searched for on the online encyclopedia www.veggipedia.nl in the past 12 months. In third place was white cabbage. Above all, people search for preparation methods and recipes. In short, cabbage is in demand in the kitchen," Wilco concludes.
Source: Wilco van den Berg