The latest TikTok craze that saw cucumbers sell out across Iceland in recent weeks is a bit unusual, says Bárður Marteinn Níelsson, purchasing manager at Bananar, the largest fresh produce importer on the island, "We notice the increased sales of cucumbers. The prices are still the same as usual, it does not increase with this shortage. Icelandic farmers are good people, they don't just increase the price when there's a shortage."
Marteinn Níelsson says the online craze played a role, but traditionally it is a period of lower cucumber availability in Iceland. "There has for sure been a video on TikTok about salad made mainly of cucumbers. It has increased the demand. About 99% of the cucumbers consumed in Iceland are locally grown. It is grown all year round with lights, but growers have to change the plants about two to three times per year in the greenhouses. This causes lower production during certain weeks, which makes the supply lower than usual. This is what happened the last two weeks and will be so for another few weeks as some of the farmers are in low production for three or four weeks. At the same time, some recipe of making cucumber salad is very good for people's health, that has maybe increased consumption," states Marteinn Níelsson.
Iceland skips summer, goes straight from spring to autumn
He says while Iceland's summer fruit and vegetable seasons has continued relatively normally, there were some unusual twists. "These last months it has been more difficult than usual to buy good product to import. There was a shortage in some types of vegetables, which has not been the case until now. For instance, Leek imports for two or three weeks ago from Holland were short. This spring, it was almost impossible to get supply for these weeks until the new crop came. That has not happened the last 30 years."
He says prices of imported fruit and vegetables are much higher than before the Covid pandemic, while their freight has almost not changed. "Some varieties of apples are sold out too. Honeycrisp apples from France are not available. However, in general we were able to get what we need. The demand is healthy in Iceland with stable price. This summer weather, as in some other European countries, has not been very good. The outdoor vegetable harvest is not so good. At this moment we have cauliflower, broccoli and carrots from local Icelandic growers. We also had very high prices for lemons the past two weeks. Every week we buy lemons from Holland, we have seen prices going up a lot. There are people here still waiting for summer that has still not come. Iceland skipped summer, it went straight from spring to autumn," concludes Marteinn Níelsson, who will soon retire from the fresh produce department at Bananar.
For more information:
Bárður Marteinn Níelsson
Bananar
Tel: +35 45250107
[email protected]
www.bananar.is