The first green peppers started in Poland around 2-3 weeks ago. The first colours like red and yellow are expected to follow in the coming few weeks, along with sweet pointed red peppers.
"We have really noticed a trend in the last 2 to 3 years, that demand is continuing to increase for the sweet pointed red peppers. It has gotten to the point that the demand outweighs supply. Here in Poland we have noticed that the traditional white pointed peppers are losing popularity amongst consumers. I think this has a lot to do with the major retailers starting campaigns for the red variety, which has a sweet and great flavour and the retailers are offering them for 6 to 8 months during the year." shared Andrzej Mierzejewski from Cool Fruit S.P.
Despite increasing demand and sales for pointed red peppers, Andrzeij said that the demand has not taken away from the sales of traditional bell peppers. However, it does seem to have affected aubergine and white pointed pepper sales.
"We are expecting a good harvest this year, with production to stay at pretty much the same level as last year. This isn't to say that the cold weather back in April has not had an effect on production, although the total quantities will be pretty much the same, it has affected the quality. I expect that there will be less A class than usual and that a bulk of production will be align with B level. I think in the end though that it will even out with pricing. We have noticed less demand than we were expecting in our export countries like Belgium, Holland and the UK, but have seen a lot more demand in the domestic market than we were expecting." said Andrzeij.
Chili peppers are continuing to gain popularity and Andrzeij shared that he thinks that an upcoming trend is to offer various chili peppers in a 200-300 gram box.
"Consumers in Poland prefer to have a mix of chili peppers, either different colours or different varieties, so they appreciate having them in one box. The mix usually consists of around 5 peppers, for example, yellow, red, brown (chocolate), along with peppers like habeneros."
