Potatoes prices in Sweden have doubled and reached the most expensive levels ever. In his long career in the fresh produce sector he has never seen anything like it, says Daniel Larsson, head of purchase and co-owner of Hebe Frukt & Grönsaker AB, based in Sweden.
"We have never experienced such a high price level for potatoes. All the old crop is gone. The price level is double the normal price. It is the most expensive year we've ever had. Now in summer we have a lot of rain while in May it was really warm. This led to decay of the potatoes. Potatoes were exported from our country, because of the earlier rains in Belgium and the Netherlands," explains Larsson.
He says fruit and vegetable prices are traditionally high up to Mid-summer and then drop after that. However, he says prices remained high for many items. They have also not had good summer weather, with constant grey skies and rain. "This year's mid-summer was nothing special, it is business as usual. Leading up to mid-summer, the fresh produce is always really expensive. We see sales that are slow. Demand is not so great because of the weather. We have grey skies, it is raining and it is cold. We're still waiting for the summer to arrive to have a nice barbecue."
Larsson says the hotter spring, followed by a wet summer until now, is not good for the Swedish grown crops. "The weather was good in Spring. May was hot and sunny. June and July have been bad weather, with grey skies and cold. This brought problems with Swedish production of cauliflower, cabbage etc. It is leading to prices that are sky-high because of the bad weather. This year we see really high prices. Soft fruit is going fine, there is big demand for strawberries."
He says they have melons from Spain and Greece. "The stone fruit in Sweden comes from Italy, Spain, and Serbia as usual for this time of the year. Exotics like mango, pineapple and avocado sales are lower during summer. It increases during autumn, winter and spring. On the other hand, stone fruit that are good like nectarines, peaches and melons from Europe, that's what we love during summer," concludes Larsson.
For more information:
Daniel Larsson
Hebe Frukt & Grönsaker AB
Tel: +46 (0) 31-780 27 00
Email: [email protected]
www.hebe.se