A warm winter with hardly any frost doesn't seem to be the best recipe for good kale sales, but you won't hear Mike Glas of Glas-Groenten from Broek op Langedijk complain. The company grows this winter vegetable on 22 hectares and also buys kale from nearby growers. Most kale is supplied to the supermarkets cut. "Sales have been good all year and if you look at the weather conditions the kale sales are unprecedented. We are clearly profiting from the super foods hype that has blown over from the United States and Dutch kale is benefiting from this."
Sprouts
The sprouts sales, however, aren't so smooth. "It's difficult all over the country, especially in quality. We have had a lot of rain, continued growth due to the heat, but also plots with hail. This is resulting in a lot of yellow leaves and a limited shelf life. The demand for sprouts hasn't been that great, now that it's a bit colder the market is pulling up again, but it's not a great year for sprouts," continues Mike. "We are hoping to continue with kale and sprouts into April, but this largely depends on the customer's desires."
The trader is hoping for a late cold. "This would be good for sprouts in particular, they are now over ripe and could use some cold. Kale remains good on the field for a long time, but if you get a strong -10° or -15°C freeze, you'll suddenly be down half. You will also see that buyers want to go on longer, but I fear this won't happen and a late freeze isn't coming."
