Polish growers continue to look for new products and markets to fill the gap left by the Russian embargo. Perfect Fruits Company in Poland has found success with switching some of their apple production over to pumpkins, as more Polish customers become more familiar with the squash.
"We started producing Hokkaido pumpkins around 5 years ago and although it is still not a huge market, it is definitely growing. Pumpkins are something that most Polish consumers were unfamiliar with, but we have been doing a lot of promotion to encourage sales. Every pumpkin we sell has a sticker with recipes on it and there are also instructions on how to prepare it," said Monika Szczesna from Perfect Fruits.
The Hokkaido pumpkin harvest started last week and will continue through September. Once harvested, some of the pumpkins are put in storage for a maximum of 1-2 months, meaning the Hokkaido will be available through November. Approximately 250 tons of production is expected this season.
Along with supplying the domestic market, the pumpkins are also sent to Belgium and France.
The average size of each pumpkin is between 0.8-3.5 kg and they are currently selling for 50-60 Euro cents per kilo (including transport).
"Belgium is our largest market for pumpkins and after noting the customer demand, we have started growing Musquee pumpkins specifically for that market. The musquee is a large variety, with weights around 8kg or more, which is much too large for our domestic market. We will start harvesting these pumpkins, which are a slightly later variety, next week."
