The first French walnuts were loaded at the Hamburg wholesale market in week 43. "Compared to other years, the season started 14 days later, which is mainly due to the heat in late summer. The harvest in the French growing regions of Grenoble and Périgord is starting very slowly this year and the quantities have been manageable so far. In this respect, the start of this year's campaign has been quite bumpy," summarises Sven Lohalm, direct importer and owner of ERNST LÜDERS GmbH & Co. KG, based at the Hamburg wholesale market.
Complex sorting process and high failure rate
The difficult weather conditions have had a corresponding effect on the quality of the nuts, Lohalm continues. "As a result, a lot of goods are currently being sorted out and there is a correspondingly high reject rate. Although below-average yields were expected, the harvest is ultimately even smaller than initially feared." Due to the complex sorting process, loading also takes more time overall, he also said.
However, the quality of the produce that is ultimately processed for export is impeccable. "There is an exceptionally high proportion of large walnuts (32+) this year, totalling around half of the entire harvest. This size corresponds to the preferences of the wholesale trade, while medium-sized walnuts (30-32) are more popular with food retailers," explains the nut specialist.
Tough competition with California and Chile
In general, the market has been particularly competitive in recent years, says Lohalm. "Last year's season saw a bumper harvest in France, but this meant that the quantities could hardly be marketed. In food retail in particular, France is on the retreat and now mainly offers cheaper goods from California and Chile." Nevertheless, production in the two French growing regions has remained relatively constant over the years. "Normally, a total of 38,000 to 40,000 tonnes are harvested: Walnuts are mainly grown on smaller fruit farms as a sideline," he points out, referring to the agricultural structures in the south of France.
Compared to other European countries of origin, French shelled walnuts are still very popular. Lohalm: "Hungarian walnuts have established themselves well, especially in Central Europe. Spanish and Italian walnuts are largely traded on the domestic market and are less exported. In general, we have noticed that the trend towards walnut kernels is unbroken, especially in food retail, although the hype is no longer as strong as it was a few years ago. Wholesalers are still mainly selling large containers, such as 5 or 10 kg nets or polybags."
Harvest losses for Italian hazelnuts
In addition to walnuts, Lüders also imports and sells hazelnuts, primarily from Italy and France. In contrast to walnuts, goods of European origin can already be offered from the end of September. "Due to the extreme weather fluctuations, there has been a considerable drop in yield this year, especially in Italy, but we are not yet able to quantify this precisely," concludes Lohalm.
Images: ERNST LÜDERS GmbH & Co. KG
For more information:
Sven Lohalm
ERNST LÜDERS GmbH & Co. KG
Großmarkt Hamburg
Telefon: +49 40 32 55 50 0
[email protected]
www.ernst-lueders.de