The harvest year of 2023 will be remembered as a very successful one at Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen in Lampertheim, in southern Hesse. "We had a very warm summer with little precipitation again this year, which has actually been the case since 2017. We were able to harvest the first fresh garlic in mid-May: The cold spell at the end of April/beginning of May slowed down the growth of the garlic somewhat, so the start of the harvest was delayed by a week or two compared to other years," says Managing Director Konstanze Pantiru.
The abundant yield also met with a nice demand, the producer continues. "Normally, we traditionally have a summer slump in July due to the summer vacations and regional farmers harvesting their produce later. This year, however, the marketing of our garlic continued at high levels throughout."
Fresh, local garlic.
Garlic cultivation on 45 hectares
Lampertheim garlic was first cultivated on around 6 hectares in 2016. Two years ago, the area under cultivation was expanded from 35 to 45 hectares, Pantiru explains. The garlic is now not only growing and thriving at the main site in Lampertheim, but at two other sites in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate as well. Pantiru: "Around 80-90 percent of our yield is marketed as fresh table garlic. The rest is marketed as dried garlic, but this still corresponds to a total quantity of around 20-40 tons." Domestic garlic is marketed throughout Germany via food retailers and wholesalers.
Young plant sales and sweet potato cultivation
In addition to selling its own garlic, the long-established company is also involved in the cultivation of young garlic plants and sweet potatoes. "We have been the exclusive distributor of Planasa's young plants in Germany for many years and market around ten different garlic plants. We now also produce sweet potatoes of the Beauregard variety on around five hectares. This heat-loving crop also grows and thrives particularly well in our region," Pantiru explains.
The company continues to see growth potential for German garlic cultivation. "If we look at the low level of self-sufficiency, I believe that the topic of regionality is far from exhausted." However, there were challenges as well, above all the cost increases. "We were only able to achieve a marginal price increase last year, but we are satisfied with the producer prices. Although one really has to calculate everything well, we are doing quite nicely compared to other sectors. In this respect, we have found a good, stable niche."
Images: Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen GbR
For more information:
Konstanze Pantiru
Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen GbR & Saatguthandel
In den Gärten 5
68623 Lampertheim
Tel: +49 (0)6206 1556140
Ciprian Pantiru: 0173 1065833
Konstanze Pantiru: 0174 4678858
Email: [email protected]
www.pantiru-knoblauchkulturen.de