The open-field season for Belgian asparagus has started much earlier than last year. While many growers struggled to harvest the 'white gold' from open ground before Easter last season, this year, the timing appears to be far more favourable. "We've been busy for over a week now, and things are really picking up, with the sunshine arriving just in time for Easter," says Ben Paepen of Aspergehoeve Geel.
The busiest time of the year has now begun for the Geel-based grower, who markets some of his asparagus through BelOrta and sells the rest through his own farm shop. "We're a bit earlier than last year. Thankfully, there's been a bit less rain. It still stayed cold during the nights for quite a while, but fortunately, we've had some nice sunshine during the day. Now that it's here in abundance, volumes will only increase in the coming period," he says confidently.
"We're also completely satisfied with the quality," Ben continues. "They look beautiful. On top of that, we got off to a strong start with high prices. Prices have been quite good from the beginning due to limited volumes. It's dipped a little now, but that's normal. Demand is still there, but more and more volumes are hitting the market, and we'll really peak towards the end of April and early May."
Early Easter holidays
So this year, things are falling into place much better early in the season. "Last year, we just missed Easter, but this year, it's no problem. We always see peak demand at Easter. In the Netherlands, maybe a bit more than here in Flanders, but everyone is eager to put asparagus on the menu. So this year, restaurants were ready from day one. The Easter holidays fell before Easter this year, and with the good weather, they were very keen to serve asparagus right away. More and more of them are buying directly from growers, so they placed large orders early this year."
80 to 90 per cent peeled
A trend that Ben says has firmly taken hold in recent years is the rising demand for peeled asparagus over unpeeled. "We invested in a peeling machine in 2016 because people increasingly prefer their asparagus peeled. That investment has definitely paid off, as now 80 to 90 per cent of what we sell is peeled. Convenience has made people unwilling to peel asparagus themselves, so they're happy to pay a little more for it. At the moment, we're peeling a few hundred kilos of asparagus a day."
Will demand drop off after Easter? "I don't think so. Usually, demand stays strong until St John's Day. During the asparagus season, we rarely have to complain about demand. Volumes will start to rise, which could cause prices to dip slightly, but that remains to be seen. Last year, heavy rainfall caused a lot of damage, so we still don't know what the plots will yield in a few weeks. That has become unpredictable, so we'll have to wait and see how things hold up towards the end of the season."
For more information:
Ben Paepen
Aspergehoeve Geel
Doornboomstraat 55
2440 Geel, Belgium
Tel: +32 472 32 83 22
ben@aspergehoeve.be
www.aspergehoeve.be