The onions from overseas are already being marketed to food retailers and Frankfurt wholesalers in large quantities. Compared to last year, the exotic onions are available much earlier, says Bausch. “In last year's season, we have been able to offer German onions from the previous harvest for much longer. As a result, we started the imported goods about two weeks later than this year.”
In the potato sector, however, the market situation is exactly the opposite. The first products from Spain are expected this week, about a week later than last year. Despite this weather-related delay, however, Bausch will be able to offer all conventional varieties in the hard-boiling, predominantly hard-boiling and floury range. The weather was not just unpredictable in southern Europe; in the Federal Republic and in Hesse there was heavy rainfall and in places even hail last week, says Bausch. “Fortunately, I am not aware of any property damage on the regional fields. It will certainly take another week before we know exactly how much the fields are affected.”
Within the range of domestic new potatoes, the wholesale business also contains products from the Palatinate. New potatoes from Hessian fields, however, are still a few weeks away. “In the immediate vicinity we also have early potatoes of the Berber and Annabelle varieties, but not in large amounts. Nonetheless, regionalism has been on the rise for several years now, with the label 'Guaranteed quality from Hesse' as well as the slogan 'From the Region, for the Region'. Therefore, from mid-August we will also offer regionally cultivated garlic. We are working with a grower who is testing the cultivation on about 3 hectares.”
Modern equipment
The Rainer Bausch GmbH was founded in 1905 as a classic country trader and has developed over the years. Now working with the fifth generation, it is a well-recognized wholesale trader for potatoes and onions. The company markets only the highest quality potato and onion varieties and manages the value chain from procurement through processing to storage and delivery of the products. Since 2015, the GmbH has a state-of-the-art logistics area for processing and packaging with an integrated optical sorting system, packaging machines and cold storage cells.
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