A decline in demand for ginger is expected in the coming weeks. "Sales are still quite stable because ginger is traditionally in high demand shortly after Carnival. But if the weather stays warm and sunny, experience shows that the demand for ginger drops noticeably," says Ralf Settels, managing director of Jiahe Food Europe GmbH. There have also been some challenges on the procurement side. "In the first quarter of the current year, there were multiple quality problems because the new Chinese harvest was simply shipped too early. Due to delays at the seaports, an overall transit time of around 60 days must also be considered. This ultimately means that the situation is not easy for any of the market participants at the moment."
Ralf Settels and his daughter Johanna at Fruit Logistica 2025.
The product from China that has been marketed so far is young ginger. Settels: "It can be roughly compared to new potatoes in that the product is harvested without its skin and is therefore quite delicate. The skin forms only after harvesting in storage: this means that the longer the product is stored, the firmer its skin becomes." Prices have also been adjusted according to the situation. "The first new crop product was offered in December at quite low prices until it was realized that the yield per container was below expectations due to quality issues. This in turn led to prices being adjusted to approximately the level of the old crop. This was also necessary to compensate for the high losses and correspondingly high processing costs." Recently, prices have remained almost stable, the product specialist continues.
Peru loses market share
Meanwhile, the supply of goods from Peru is now gradually coming to an end. "The qualities were consistently weaker and demand has also collapsed considerably. Overall, Peru has lost around 80 percent of its market share in Europe this year, primarily due to tuber size. By early 2024, a significant portion of our customers had switched to Chinese produce and found that the larger tubers of Chinese origin generated more sales. Across Europe, we are seeing a trend of sticking with Chinese ginger. The first forecasts at the beginning of 2024 indicated modest volumes, which is why an early end to the season by October was expected. The fact that we have made it into March at all is therefore a sign that the volumes have been sold very slowly."
Furthermore, Settels emphasizes that there is still a lack of alternative sourcing countries for ginger. Thai ginger does not meet the quality requirements of the European market. "Brazil is basically done in December, whereas we would need the produce in January and February to meet the high demand. Furthermore, there is African produce from Nigeria and Ghana, but it is even smaller in caliber than Peru. Another major ginger-producing country is South Africa, where the produce is mainly grown for the domestic market. We have also looked for reliable suppliers in India, but unfortunately have not yet found any." Meanwhile, consumption in Germany and other European countries has remained at a stable, high level since the pandemic. The trend is still rising in both the industry and the fresh market. The same applies to turmeric, which is also mainly sourced from Peru and China.
Portuguese sweet potatoes
In addition to ginger and turmeric, Jiahe Food Europe GmbH is dedicated to importing and distributing organic sweet potatoes. They parted ways with Israel and Spain and have been relying mainly on Portuguese goods for the past two years. Recently, the first conventional sweet potatoes from Portugal arrived, reveals Settels. "Portuguese goods will probably be available until the end of May, after which they will continue seamlessly with goods of South African origin until the new harvest in Portugal in August. Thanks to the mild climate and major investments in storage technology and the like, the Portuguese season has tended to lengthen in recent years." The current price level is quite high and slightly rising, which is again due to the lower availability of sweet potatoes from the USA. According to Settels, there was another price increase at the beginning of March.
Customer growth in all areas
Overall, the management of Jiahe Food Europe GmbH can look back on a successful 2024 in terms of sales. "There has been growth in all product areas, and we have been able to acquire new customers in both the industrial and fresh food sectors," Settels concludes.
Photo credit: Jiahe Food Europe GmbH
For more information:
Ralf Settels
Jiahe Food Europe GmbH
Luxemburger Str. 9
41812 Erkelenz
Tel: +49 2431 9724212
info@jiahefood.eu
www.jiahefood.eu