The supply of sprouts is 25 per cent lower in general, according to Menno Molenaar from Van Oers United. “It is not a panic situation yet, but this week we had a call from an industrial sprout processor whom we have never previously done business with. Which suggests that the industrial market also has shortages.”
Compared to last year, prices are high; between 80 cents and 1 euro. “We do not rule out higher prices. The local sprout season will come to an end in February, and only then will we be able to assess the season. We still have an enormously important and favourable period ahead of us,” Molenaar continues.
Van Oers United has noticed that it has become a demand market. “That is good, because last year we had a supply market, and now we have a demand market.” The sprout area is declining, especially for smaller cultivators. The people Van Oers supplies - wholesalers, retailers and vegetable cutting plants, have hardly noticed that decline. “We have a sufficient number of cultivators who are becoming increasingly professional. And that is good,” Molenaar concludes.
