The winter season is in full swing at Euro Gijbels' Catalan growing site, where the focus is mainly on cauliflower, parsley, celery, and citrus, with recent additions of mint and coriander. Although the province of Catalonia largely escaped the worst of storm DANA, John Gijbels notes that the consequences are now becoming apparent. "In vegetables, especially, several fields have been completely flooded," explains the trader from Geel, Flanders.
John in the field with the mint, when it still looked good
"We're transitioning now with cauliflower and celery," he continues. "Both are a bit later than in previous years, though I can't say for sure if this is due to the rainfall. In any case, we'll slowly but surely begin harvesting by the end of this week. Overall, demand here is still somewhat underwhelming, partly because Belgian produce is still on the market. However, we hear that quality there is quietly declining, so I think things will pick up here starting next week."
Euro Gijbels' parsley cultivation, which supplies mainly to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, has been ongoing for several weeks. "For now, things are progressing slowly. The heavy rainfall has significantly reduced availability, and there's a lot of poor-quality parsley on the market. It's a challenging and sensitive crop, so you can tell it's been affected by the flooding. We're doing everything we can to keep our parsley clean and healthy, and so far, we're managing. Demand is there, but it's all hands on deck to deliver a good product. This has led to relatively high prices at the moment."
Celery
Although storm DANA initially appeared to have minimal impact on Catalonia, its effects are evident in Euro Gijbels' newly started mint and coriander crops. "At first, the storm didn't seem too severe here," John says. "But in hindsight, there's been considerable damage. Parsley showed signs of stress first, and the impact on cauliflower and celery is still unclear. However, the biggest blow came to our mint and coriander crops. This year was supposed to be our first full season for these, but several fields were completely waterlogged. We have some coriander left, but for mint, we're hoping to deliver again by Christmas, our busiest period. Parsley was manageable, but since mint and coriander are new crops with far fewer hectares, there was little we could salvage. Thankfully, it's still early in the season, so I hope it's not a total loss. We'll have to wait and see."
The Leanri fields
Sinterklaas packs Clementines
Citrus remains the company's largest product during the winter. "Even here, though, it's been challenging. The rainfall and ongoing heat have affected the Oronules and now the Clemenules, which we've started harvesting. From how it looks, we might finish these a bit earlier than usual, after which we'll try a two-week run of Clemenvilla and then begin the Leanri in mid-January. I always look forward to that because, personally, I think it's the best clementine. I tasted them last week, and they're already quite sweet, so that's promising. It's always a great time of year, lasting about a month. At the same time, we'll begin harvesting Nadorcott, which we can pick through February, and possibly even into early March."
The company is also leveraging its packaging for the upcoming Sinterklaas holiday, celebrated in Holland and Belgium. "Themed packaging always performs well in supermarkets. In Belgium, we offered clementines in jute bags under the label 'Sint-clementines,' encouraging children to enjoy a healthy surprise during Sinterklaas instead of sweets. It was a big success," John concludes.
Euro Gijbels' Sinterklaas packaging
For more information:
John Gijbels
Euro Gijbels
Cami de les Arenes s/n
43300 Mont-roig del Camp
Tarragona - Spain
[email protected]
www.eurogijbels.be