Jan Dortmans of sales organisation Scherpenhuizen from Eindhoven, the Netherlands, characterises the current cucumber market as capricious. “The market is fairly active, but also very changeable. The smallest thing could cause the market to shoot up or down, the balance is very fragile. Three days of dark weather caused production to decrease sharply and prices to rise sharply, but sunny weather and slightly more supply immediately disrupts the market as well.”
According to Dortmans this is nothing new. “The cucumber market has always been a plaything of small factors which can have a large influence. The cucumber is truly a day trading product, and from one day to the next there can be a ten-cent difference in price. Regarding area, the Dutch cucumber does not amount to much in Europe, but our high productions compensate for this. We are currently the deciding factor in Europe.”
“Speaking for Europe, a market demand currently exists. The losses due to hail damages are very noticeable, and that can no longer be changed. Besides, Dutch supply is not very large due to cultivation shifts and the weather conditions, and the UK is also in the market for Dutch cucumbers because of local cultivation shifts,” Dortmans continues.
“This results in daily prices for 40ers between 45 and 50 cents, and for 35ers between 40 and 45 cents. We have had seasons where we had to settle for less, but each season needs a few of these weeks to make a good season.”
