These are calm weeks for the sales of large vegetables. Christmas doesn’t provide an improvement in the sales of cabbage and celeriac. Moreover, the vegetables are expensive. Growers and trade companies are economical with their stocks because there’s less supply. “Less white cabbage was planted than normally, the harvest was smaller, and more was taken out in recent months,” according to Tuindersbelang. The same is true for red cabbage. The number of growers is declining. Ten years ago, they did business with 130 growers, but just 100 are now left.
The demand market for cabbage is resulting in good pricing. Compared to last year, the prices have more than doubled. All of Europe is on the market, but the high prices are resulting in a calm market.
The extreme circumstances on Europe’s mainland have resulted in lower yields in addition to quality problems. Cabbage affected by thrips can’t be sold on the fresh market. This cabbage is currently being manually prepared for industry. That can only be done when the cabbage is expensive, so this quality would have been fed to cows last season, according to a trader/processor.
The supply of celeriac is also smaller. In Europe, yields are considerably lower because of the dry weather, although this is a global problem, according to a trader who got his information overseas.
A lot of Polish workers take time off to spend the holidays with their families back home in this period. For a number of companies, the calm market comes at a favourable time. To get the remaining work done, people roll up their own sleeves or they ask relatives for help. Others, such as leek growers, take a holiday around Christmas.
