Dry weather
The suppliers of BioVibe were affected by the warm and dry weather, just like the conventional growers. “Our growers were all capable of irrigating, and serious efforts have been made to limit damages. Up till now, they managed to absorb everything fairly well, and we’re not much affected by the dry weather,” Johan says. “Cauliflower wasn’t as good in the past few weeks, but we now have plenty of volume again. The pumpkins are a bit smaller as well, but this won’t cause any trouble, because the area has increased.”
Butternut
BioVibe expects demand for pumpkins to start increasing again near the end of October. “Demand for pumpkins is still a bit behind in September, but it will improve this month. Near the end of October, sales peak, and we’ll sell double what we’re selling now. Demand will remain stable in the winter months,” Johan continues. According to him, popularity of pumpkins increased considerably in recent years. Varieties such as butternut are doing very well.
The organic wholesaler has seen demand for organic products increasing slightly. “We expect demand to continue growing, but it won’t be a spectacular growth yet. I think organic is growing more rapidly abroad than it is in Belgium, but I don’t know why we’re falling behind a bit.” BioVibe supplies 95 percent of its products to the domestic market, and the other five percent is sent to the Netherlands, France, and a small volume to Germany. The products are mostly meant for supermarkets, organic food shops and wholesalers.
“In recent years, we’ve also seen demand for forgotten vegetables such as parsnip and root parsley increasing. The same is true for the emerging sweet potatoes. Yet the organic sector is fairly stable. Organic doesn’t have a lot of ups and downs on the market, and prices remain fairly stable as well. As it looks now, we’re expecting a good season with great, quality products,” Johan concludes.
