"I foresee a good demand in the fruit and vegetable industry for 2023. Customers are showing more consistent buying behavior than in previous years," states Andreas Frey, Managing Director of Gemüsebau Frey at the Karlsruhe wholesale market.
Good season for lamb's lettuce
He is satisfied with the lamb's lettuce season. "The high temperatures resulted in very good volumes. Initially, there was a lack of water in the region, but from November or early December, there was too much rain. This led to increased waterlogging, causing failures for some producers. In various regions that cultivate on slopes, there were fewer problems." The price level of the lamb's lettuce was comparable to the previous year, which has to do with the increasing mechanical harvest, says Frey. "Sales of lamb's lettuce were very good at Christmas. We are talking about approximately the same quantities as last year. Overall, lamb's lettuce was in high demand. The Christmas business in 2023 was particularly strong in the two days before Christmas."
Above-average interest in citrus fruits
In the current season, the company was also able to sell above-average volumes of citrus fruits. "Although a lot of cheap goods are advertised, they are not as well received as goods that have a good taste. In fact, there seem to have been some markdowns on the cheap goods. We offer three quality brands that sell well.
Lack of interest for "old vegetables"
Old vegetable varieties, such as beetroot, yellow beet, and black salsify, unfortunately, are no longer very popular. "They were more in demand a few years ago." Nonetheless, he sees himself as a service provider who provides customers with what they want. "We occasionally advertise old vegetables, such as sugarloaf, which can primarily be sold in December. From January, however, one should then resort to Italian goods." Cauliflower is currently the worst product that can be traded. "The market reacts extremely quickly to cauliflower. After the weather-related complications, we switched to daily prices instead of weekly prices for cauliflower."
Berries in high demand
Despite the higher prices he was able to achieve this year, there was a high willingness to buy raspberries and blueberries. The sale of strawberries, on the other hand, was not as good as in previous years, which is probably also due to the large quantity available. "The high pricing advertised at the beginning of 2023 also led to more cautious sales of special crops like strawberries and asparagus. What also became apparent is that customers will now spread their purchases throughout the week," says Frey.
About the protests on January 8th
"We fully support the protests, because their challenges affect us just like many other market participants. We communicated openly with our customers and informed them that there might be delays. They showed a lot of understanding for this. The protests are mainly about making oneself visible. At the same time, we clearly distance ourselves from any extremism, to which we show no tolerance. One must talk to all producers about the overall situation to find the appropriate solutions."
For more information:
Andreas Frey
Gemüsebau Frey GmbH
Waldhof 1
76889 Kapsweyer
Phone: +49 6340 / 20 5
Email: info@gemuesebau-frey.de
Web: https://gemuesebau-frey.de