On 26 June, the last bulbs of this year's harvest were pulled out of the ground at Pantiru, Germany's largest garlic producer in Lampertheim, in southern Hesse. "We started on 15 May and finished a week earlier than last year," explains Managing Director Konstanze Pantiru, who runs the farm together with her husband Ciprian. "We were really lucky this year. That's because there was no heavy rainfall in our region during the three weeks when we harvested our main crop, i.e. from 1 to 22 June. As a result, we were spared major damage and harvest losses, even though we had to put in extra effort to clean the produce," the producer couple says in an on-site interview.
The Pantirus have been fully dedicated to growing and selling their home-grown garlic since 2016 following the first successful trials on their parents' farm.
Strong demand characterises the start of the season
The company can also look back on a successful start to the season in terms of marketing. "Demand has been high and stable since the start of the new harvest, so there has been no shortage. However, prices could be slightly higher for the start of the season, although there was also a slight price reduction recently. On the other hand, we are not seeing any major price fluctuations, as has often been the case in other years," says Mrs Pantiru.
The Pantiru GbR production hall. This is where the goods are cleaned, sorted, prepared and packaged for retail. At peak times, the company employs around 34 people, a large proportion of whom come from Ciprian Pantiru's home region of north-east Romania.
Garlic cultivation on almost 50 hectares
After starting out on their parents' farm, the innovative couple founded Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen GbR in 2016. Today, they are fully dedicated to producing a wide range of garlic varieties on some 48 hectares. "The marketing window for our fresh garlic usually extends into August. Our dried garlic is normally marketed between June and January. We also represent the Planasa company in Germany and exclusively sell the four Spanish garlic varieties Gardos, Gardacho, Garcua and Garpek on the German market. The interest in garlic cultivation is still there. These are often innovative farmers who are looking for an additional, value-added product." Pantiru's newest product branche is sweet potato cultivation: starting in 2018 with around 0.5 hectares, the cultivation capacity has now been expanded to around 6 hectares. The sweet potatoes are harvested from September onward.
On the left: Unsorted produce in temporary storage. Right: Marketable, fresh garlic
Fresh vs. dried garlic
The marketing of fresh garlic is considered summer business and ends in August. "We could extend the marketing window, but we would have to bear extreme storage costs. In addition, we are already fully occupied with dried garlic, our sweet potatoes and garlic seedlings in autumn," explains Konstanze Pantiru. Compared to the dried product, the fresh garlic business is more lucrative overall. "After all, you mustn't forget that around 40 per cent of the product is lost with dried garlic. In addition, we can score points with the freshness and regionality of our product, especially with dried goods. Our products are even on sale at the wholesale markets in Cologne and Munich. We focus on the summer, while the Netherlands supplies the German market with fresh produce in autumn and winter. In this respect, we don't get in each other's way and both countries of origin still have their raison d'être."
Despite the wet weather, the sizes are almost similar to last year.
For more information:
Konstanze Pantiru
Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen GbR & Saatguthandel
In den Gärten 5
68623 Lampertheim
Tel: +49 (0)6206 1556140
Konstanze Pantiru: 0174 4678858
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.pantiru-knoblauchkulturen.de