Summertime is barbecue time: Gartenfrisch Jung Ltd, one of the leading producers of convenience salads and sweetcorn, has been in full swing since the start of the German lettuce harvest at the beginning of May. "Due to the cold and wet weather, the peak workload was immense. In my opinion, however, the weather has had a positive effect on the crops: We have had to irrigate comparatively much less this year. What's more, rainwater is very different to artificial irrigation. This in turn contributed to very good quality and high unit weights, especially in the early stages, so that we had more than enough produce for our own needs in convenience production and were also able to supply some produce to third parties," says Daniel Jung.
Outside the domestic season, the convenience manufacturer can flexibly draw on imported goods, mainly from its own contract farming in Portugal. Jung: "There was a smooth transition for the crops from our own cultivation in Portugal, such as endive, frisé, sugar loaf and radicchio. The same applied to the crops we source from Spain, France or Italy. There were only minor shortages of Portuguese endive in winter, but no significant bottlenecks that we were unable to resolve."
The rainfall had a largely positive effect on lettuce cultivation.
Increased demand for low-priced lettuce mixes
As with many other vegetable products, the consequences of inflation and lower purchasing power are also being felt on the lettuce shelves, continues Jung. "The market is currently reorienting itself, with an increasing number of slightly cheaper components being added to the mixes instead of fine premium salads. Although this trend already existed last year, I think it has intensified somewhat this year. We are currently assuming that this trend will continue in the near future." Compared to the previous year, there were no major price changes for cut lettuce.
Sweetcorn continues to gain in importance
The German sweetcorn harvest also started at the beginning of July. In order to ensure a seamless supply of goods, fresh sweetcorn of Portuguese origin is also offered at the start of the season. According to initial yield forecasts, this year's harvest from our own German cultivation should be roughly in line with the multi-year average. "The situation was quite tense this year, as we were unable to sow in some cases due to the wet conditions. Nevertheless, we only started the harvest with a slight delay of around a week compared to previous years. Apart from that, the rainfall has actually only had a positive effect on sweetcorn cultivation. We are even expecting a slight increase in yield compared to the last two years," Jung predicts.
Sweetcorn continues to enjoy increasing popularity, the specialist continues. "You can tell that consumers are looking for barbecue alternatives to meat. In addition to pre-cooked sweetcorn in packs of two, we have also been offering marinated sweetcorn for around ten years, which is now permanently listed in some large food retail chains." In recent years, cultivation capacities in Germany have remained relatively constant. "We are of course in the fortunate position that we also have large cultivation capacities in Portugal, which is why we also have the opportunity to produce additional goods either early or late in the season and strategically extend the season."
40 years of GARTENFRISCH Jung
GARTENFRISCH Jung was founded in 1984 and is therefore celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Over the years, GARTENFRISCH Jung has developed from a purely agricultural business into one of the market leaders in the fresh convenience sector. The company has been part of the Kramer Group for two years now. "We are already seeing many positive synergy effects and are particularly pleased about the increase in clout," the company concludes.
Images: GARTENFRISCH Jung GmbH
For more information:
Daniel Jung
GARTENFRISCH Jung GmbH
Hermann-Jung-Straße 2
74249 Jagsthausen
Tel.: 07943/ 8 93-0
Fax: 07943/ 8 93-1 90
Email: [email protected]
www.gartenfrisch.de