The sales on the leek market are going well at the moment. "There is reasonable demand. Of course there was a slight decrease during the summer weather at the start of the week, but it is now pulling up," says seller Gijs van den Oever of Van den Elzen Groenteverwerking. "All leek has been harvested and is in storage at the moment. We process the leek from here and supply it to our customers. The 'buffer' harvesting went well and this is why we have good leek in the cooling. It's an art to not start too early or too late."
"The prices are reasonably on the rise, which indicates that the supply can't keep up with the demand. Despite the warm weather there wasn't really a decrease to be seen. Next week it will be cold for this time of the year, so good leek weather. I look forward to seeing what influence this will have on the market," continues Gijs. "It will take a while before the first summer leek is harvested. Nature is behind schedule compared to last year. This is mainly caused by the late spring. We make sure that our customers constantly have leek available. The leek is going in all direction at the moment: from Scandinavia, England, Eastern Europe, Italy to America."
The newest development within Van den Elzen Groenteverwerking is 'Hydrocut' leek. "We are working on the implementation of waterjet cutting on the roots and leaf. This enhances the quality and shelf life. Because the leaf and roots are cut with a waterjet there is no contamination with bacteria, which means the cutting edge won't get infected. This means the leek can be stored for longer and sold for longer, which is a huge plus for the stores," concludes Gijs.
