The greenhouse vegetable market is "summer busy" for wholesaler Gebroeders Michiels. "It's not necessarily calm, because all the items are there. From tomatoes to cucumbers, peppers and aubergines. There are no peak sales anywhere, but smaller sales here and there will all add up in the end," says Barry Michiels of the Sint-Katelijne-Waver based exporter.
"We can't say it's super busy," the trader continues. "And why? There used to be a dozen or so exporters, selling to Germany, England or France. Nowadays, however, you have the home sales systems, which means that up to 30 people will buy from the wholesale markets themselves. The market is fragmenting more and more."
"We are still mainly a service provider. German wholesalers now know the price of a product to the penny; this transparency is evolving more and more. For us, it's now more about making sure we buy fresh produce every day, deliver quality goods and offer fast service. You can almost view it as just a logistical service from here to Germany," Barry explains.
Volatile
The season has therefore not yet gone quite as desired for the exporter. "Normally April, May and June are the best months of the year. However, this year the weather has been disappointing. It's as simple as that. We haven't had a single full week of good weather for three months. We noticed that on both supply and sales. Tomato volumes have been volatile. In fact, you always harvest six weeks later than the weather, so if it had been good in May and June, there would be a lot of supply now. Only now the days are getting a bit better, we won't see the volumes until August. Actually, the sun has let us down for the past three months."
With tomatoes, this volatility has also carried over to the demand side. "Aubergines, peppers and cucumbers have done quite well, but tomatoes are simply not selling. I think it is like that everywhere. Last year, our flagship tomato was the San Marzano tomato with crown. Nobody could get enough of that, and we sold 10 pallets every day, so to speak. Now they have a lot of supply in the Netherlands and Germany has volumes of its own, so if we lose 3 a day, it's a lot. That's evolution, of course. If a product does well, producers jump on it. You saw that with cucumbers and now again in tomatoes. Next year it could be different again. Moreover, it also depends on the weather, because with the sunshine this week, prices went up again. Still nothing to write home about, but it does make a difference."
"It won't structurally improve any time soon either," he continues. "Until 15 August, I expect a calm market. Some weeks will be slightly different from others, as we are seeing now, but I don't see it exploding. Everyone is slowly going on leave now and demand is reducing. This is the case every year and after 15 August, we traditionally see it turn around. Schools start again and demand is right there. Let's hope we can enjoy the sunshine a bit more then too."
For more information:
Barry Michiels
Gebroeders Michiels
Kempenarestraat 50
2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)475 262 482
[email protected]
www.gebroedersmichiels.be