For more than three years, the family business Ruff-Häring GbR has been dedicated to the year-round cultivation of garden radishes. The vegetables are marketed throughout the year to both food retail customers and via their own stand at the wholesale market. "Garden Radish sales over the winter have been relatively weak so far, especially in the food retail sector. However, given the fact that we may not even have half the volume in winter that we do in summer, it was quite a good fit," said Stefanie Häring during an on-site interview in Nuremberg's Knoblauchsland.
The company's core competence for the past three years has been the year-round production of garden radishes. The first garden radishes were sown in the open field on February 20. As a rule, open-field garden radishes are harvested until the end of October. Thereafter, they are seamlessly followed by produce from protected cultivation (greenhouses and polytunnels).
"The first advertising campaigns for garden radishes usually don't start until the beginning of the open-field season in April," continues Häring. "Meanwhile, in winter, we are in direct competition with low-priced goods from Italy, some of which are offered in food retailing at 0.50 EUR/bunch. It is impossible for us to keep up with that price, even though we have the clear advantage of shorter transport distances here. Nevertheless, we are quite satisfied with the current prices." At the local wholesale market in Nuremberg, on the other hand, regional goods are more highly valued – even in winter.
The last field lettuce of this year's season is currently being harvested and will be marketed exclusively through the wholesale market. Since the decision was made to specialize in garden radishes, the cultivation of lettuce has been scaled back to just endive. Apart from that, courgettes, kohlrabi, celery, cabbage, potatoes, and onions are still grown outdoors.
"We have found a great market niche in year-round garden radish production," continues Häring. "We mainly grow red radishes, but we may also produce very small quantities of white garden radishes if we receive an order through the wholesale market. However, this rarely happens in practice."
The required young plants are produced in-house for the white radish segment. Accordingly, white radish production is much more labor-intensive than garden radish production. The first white and garden radishes are planted in the cold houses in calendar week 8.
Peter and Stefanie Häring in the white radish greenhouse. The first radishes of the season are expected to be harvested at the beginning of April. The food retail customers are supplied either directly or via the nearby headquarters of the marketing partner Franken-Gemüse eG.
Expansion of the product range with field cucumbers
A little over a year ago, the company's cultivation capacities were expanded to include a new heated polytunnel. "This is a multipurpose facility, in which we have already successfully cultivated garden radishes over the past year. In calendar week 4, we have now planted 'Harmonie' field cucumbers on a trial basis, and we are excited to see the harvest results. Sales would be assured in any case, as there are many Eastern European buyers at the wholesale market who are particularly interested in small, finger-sized cucumbers for pickling," they conclude.
Insight into the new polytunnel planted with field cucumbers. In total, the Ruff-Häring family grows vegetables on around 30 hectares, of which about 2 hectares are under protective cover.
For more information:
Stefanie Häring
Ruff-Häring GbR Gemüsebau
Loher Hauptstraße 116
90427 Nuremberg
T. +49 911 345355
info@ruff-haering.de
www.ruff-haering.de