"After a shortage of corn salad in August, we had a surplus in the months of September and October. The current market situation is more balanced. Sales are going well, but the supply isn't great. We have enough, but certainly no surplus," says Wendy Lefevere of REO Veiling. "The prices are around € 3 per kilo and that's pretty good for the time of the year, but it could be better."
Sunlight
During the Christmas period the sale of corn salad was very good and REO Veiling had a good selection on offer. "The supply of corn salad largely depends on the number of hours of sunshine. Lettuce needs a lot of sunlight and we had a few sunny days before Christmas, so we had nice volumes available", says Wendy. Now that the days are getting longer, the supply will also start to increase.
Stable market
"We see the peak in corn salad consumption during the Christmas period every year. After that, the year is fairly stable. The popularity of the lettuce has also been fairly stable for some years after a period of growth", says Lefevere. "Corn salad is really a product on its own and experiences little competition from other types of lettuce, such as Italian varieties like arugula. We have fixed customers throughout the year and have had stable sales for years."
The deficits in August were due to the extreme heat of the summer. "In order to guarantee our customers fixed volumes, we grow corn salad year-round in the greenhouse. In the summer, the greenhouses are chalked, but this year it was to no avail. Because of the sun we had some burnt leaves and couldn't sell the product. In the period that followed, we instead had a lot of surplus that had to be destroyed," Wendy concludes.
