"September started with extremely high prices for Spanish greenhouse vegetables," says Kees Havenaar of Frutas Luna from Almeria. "Everyone has their theory about this. But in the 30 years I've been in this trade, no year has ever been the same. That's what makes this trade so much fun. You love it or you hate it."
"For now, September has started well. There are few aubergines available in Europe and that drove prices to extreme heights. The same goes for cucumbers. But my father always said 'better expensive than not for sale'. Although I think with aubergines, the peak has been reached, as the price difference between Dutch and Spanish varieties is becoming too small. Around mid-October, we expect to have enough supply available to meet all requests."
"The cucumbers and mini cucumbers are starting to come in now. Not in full volume yet, but there will be much more supply starting in November. This year, the peppers were planted a bit earlier because the initial months of last season didn't go as expected. Therefore, I believe we will have a sufficient supply of peppers by December," says Kees.
"The tomatoes are still a little while away; that season will start sometime in November. There is a lot of uncertainty, as the virus pressure on tomatoes is very high. Many growers are hesitant to take risks with new varieties and have switched to alternatives. We expect the same acreage for vine tomatoes, although we received information from the Netherlands that there will be more exposed crops. We therefore expect some more 'normal' prices in winter."
"After a good spring for Frutas Luna, and certainly in early summer with cherries, we are now looking forward to a good autumn. We have more acreage in mini cucumbers, and now we are on over 11 hectares of peppers. A large portion of these will be for programs, but there will still be enough left for daily trading," concludes Kees.
Frutas Luna is an exhibitor at the Fruit Attraction in Madrid: Hall 9.
For more information:
Kees Havenaar
Frutas Luna
Tel +34 950 178 653
[email protected]