The presence of domestic asparagus expanded. For white and violet varieties, there was mainly access to Greek, Dutch, and Italian deliveries. For green spears, besides the domestic batches, there were primarily Spanish, Italian, and Dutch ones. The early harvested products were often sent to the market by Bruchsal for marketing. According to BLE, imports from Mexico and Peru only played a minor role and had lost significance.
In the week after Easter, the demand dropped noticeably. Also, due to rainy weather, storage options decreased. Especially on Wednesday, business was exceptionally quiet. Only towards the weekend did demand pick up a little again. Prices adjusted accordingly: they often dropped on Tuesday. Occasionally, they increased again from Thursday, but mostly remained at the level found until the weekend: price increases would have resulted in larger surpluses. In the coming weeks, an increase in shipments is expected as open field lots will be more readily available.
Apples
Compared to the previous week, there were no significant changes: German products still dominated, followed by Italian imports. Goods from France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium did not progress beyond a supplementary character.
Pears
Overall, prices trended downward. For overseas deliveries, this was due to too large quantities, while for other offers, quality problems were responsible for this here and there.
Grapes
Shipments from South Africa clearly dominated the scene. Indian imports had expanded, but Thompson Seedless were too small in some places, generating little interest.
Strawberries
Greek fruits had displaced Spanish ones from the top spot in the offer: Rainfall in the growing regions noticeably limited the deliveries from Spain.
Lemons
Spanish Primofiori clearly dominated the scene. Business was uniformly slow.
Bananas
Availability was sufficiently in line with sales options. Therefore, traders rarely had to modify their previous prices.
Cauliflower
Demand could be met without difficulties, although French deliveries were restricted. Prices shifted upwards almost consistently.
Lettuce
Regarding iceberg lettuce, Spanish imports obviously dominated, usually in a monopolistic manner. Traders tried to avoid stocks as the German season is about to start and the first batches are expected in the coming weeks.
Cucumbers
The assortment of cucumbers consisted of Dutch, Belgian, and domestic offers. After initial discounts, prices on almost all markets rose towards the weekend.
Tomatoes
Moroccan goods could were not consistently convincing in terms of quality towards the end of the season and dropped from the businesses in some places. Turkish imports were also too poorly colored in some areas.
Bell peppers
Spanish deliveries noticeably decreased, in part quite markedly. Therefore, the demand was not always completely satisfied. This meant that prices increased, sometimes quite significantly.
Source: BLE