mpany Verschuren Broccoli has harvested its first broccoli of the season. Starting next week, there will be more volumes on the market, despite the fact that the market is not yet ready for the Dutch produce and prices are not good, but the early start offers opportunities.The broccoli harvest for Verschuren has kicked off more than a month earlier than last year, when it started in June after a cold spring. "They have now grown in only seven weeks," says Peter Verschuren. "In the summer, when it normally grows the fastest, it usually takes nine weeks, so can you imagine how fast this was." Due to the explosive growth, the product does not weigh much, although the size is normal. Moreover, there are not many broccoli ready to be harvested, which are spread over the land, thus making the harvest duties harder. "It is certainly not ideal," confirms Verschuren. "It would be preferable for it to grow slower, but that is not up to us to decide." It also makes things harder in terms of labour. "We need very flexible labourers, otherwise it would not be possible to start harvesting now."
Bad prices
Not just the growers, but also the market is not yet ready for the Dutch produce. There is hardly any demand. "Big chains have agreements on the purchase of Spanish produce until a given time. Until then, you don't have a chance, unless the Spanish quality is poor, which it currently is not. Retailers are just as willing to put Dutch broccoli on the shelves, but how do you get it there? We need a greater production flow to be able to work efficiently. An early start, when it comes to prices, is technically a bad start."
Opportunities
Yet, an early start also offers opportunities. "An area provides a given production. Everything you have now, you do not have later," explains Verschuren. Last year, with the cold spring and hot summer, most field vegetables entered the market within a relatively short period. "This resulted in bad prices. Initially nobody had any produce and prices were high, then they dropped. Now we start early, and hopefully it will be a long season. As a result, despite the poor start, average results should be better. "Last season, the yield per hectare was also not great because of the weather conditions. There were many discards and few large broccolis, and we were finished early in the autumn. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. This year looks better."
Popularity of broccoli
Broccoli has recently made the headlines. The product is being used by Foodguerilla as a symbol of the fight against unhealthy foods. The campaign in the Netherlands is called "Big Bang Broccoli". Broccoli is on the rise. "Young consumers prefer to eat broccoli rather than cauliflower, which is popular with older consumers." Statistically, cauliflower is still the most widely consumed product, "although cauliflower consumption is on a downward trend, while broccoli keeps increasing." This increase is particularly noticeable in the winter season, when there is Spanish produce on the market. "It's a vegetable for cooking, and it can be observed that if the weather is nice, people prefer eating salad, but nevertheless, consumption is growing. With a marketing campaign promoting the use of broccoli in BBQ's, the summer consumption may perhaps also increase faster."
