The Belgian organic vegetable season has only just started, but growers and traders are not jumping for joy. According to Rony de Ceuster, of Compra, the situation for some products could even be considered dramatic. "Tomatoes have been in a downward trend since the start of the week and the situation for cucumbers and aubergines is particularly bad. Chicory is also in a catastrophic position."
Large supply tomatoes
"At the start of the week, the price paid for truss tomatoes stood at almost two Euro, but it has already dropped considerably. Today (24-02), those of the Elite segment reach 1.65 Euro and the Princess cost around 1.35 Euro. There is a large supply and prices are falling as a result, and this trend is expected to continue next week. The supply of loose boxes amounts to around 6/7,000 boxes. For truss tomatoes, this figure amounts to between 10 and 15,000 boxes. That is not nothing."
Strikingly low prices
Rony outlines the situation for other vegetables. "The cucumber season is at its peak, but we are seeing very low prices. Asparagus has just started and prices this week fell from 20 to 10 Euro. Aubergines cost between 70 and 80 cents per kilo, which are already summer prices. The situation seems to be getting worse in the case of chicory. Flandria chicory of the best quality costs between 35 and 45 cents. Class I is unsaleable and is destroyed; the market is saturated. The price of leeks has remained fairly stable during the whole winter at between 35 and 45 cents."
Another month
Rony points out that many supermarkets at the moment are in the transition stage. "There are still aubergines from Moroccan and Spanish producers, so the prices are not high. I expect that imports will gradually continue falling, but it will take another month before anyone sees any real changes. Around Easter, prices often rebound to higher levels."
