Where other cabbages -such as red cabbage and savoy cabbage- are hardly in demand, Chinese cabbage remains popular. Above all, Bavarian and Westphalian farmers have taken to growing Chinese cabbage. For the Dusseldorf direct marketer Peter-Josef Esser, cabbages also belong to the day-to-day business. “We have Chinese cabbage on sale until the end of April.”
The colorful salads he offers are now coming to an end, but he sells Chinese cabbages summer and winter. “Until three weeks ago we still had Lollo Bionda on offer. We are almost done with Lollo Rosso as well.” Chinese cabbage, on the other hand, grows very well in the German gardens; certainly in those of Mr. Esser. Of the total acreage of 45 hectares, at the moment he has only 3.5 hectares dedicated to Chinese cabbage.
His annual revenues this year are still largely influenced by cauliflower and culinary herbs. But he is considering whether he wants to expand. “We also have the Bilko variety in cultivation. We store the yields in our cold storage warehouse from late November until April." According to the retailer, the prices have been stable for a long time and vary between 5 and 6 euros per box of 10 kg.
Transformation
Esser has seen a steady transformation throughout his career, with clients focused on specific types of vegetables. “Red cabbage and beetroots are still in demand but it is incomparable to 20-30 years ago. The trend has changed significantly.” But this is not a problem for the specialist retailer: “Sales will increase by 20 percent in the pre-Christmas week. That has been the case for at least the last few years.”
Gemüsebau Esser is a pure family business and it has existed since 1957. Esser Senior is there every night at the wholesale market; his two sons Christian and Philipp are busy with the orders and the vegetable production. In addition to Chinese cabbage, Esser also grows lettuces, colorful salads, celery, cauliflower and various culinary herbs.
