Shortly before this year's pumpkin harvest, the German discounters decided there should be a radical change: because in 2018 generally no supermarkets had organic pumpkins as standard in their range, in 2019 all conventional pumpkins were to be removed from the assortment.
"Last year, we had problems with the marketing, this year it all goes very well," said Bernd Kugelmann, who on his bioveganem farm near Kandel mainly grows zucchini, pumpkin and celery, lamb's lettuce and leeks. "Because of this decision, made shortly before the harvest, my colleagues who grow conventional goods have had great problems selling their goods. Vegetables are now spoiling in the fields."
The demand for the vegetables, which traditionally had more of a marketing window in the fall and winter, is growing amazingly quickly, and consumers are always demanding more pumpkins. "It's becoming a year-round product more and more."
The variety Hokkaido is still the most important: "Butternut, for example, is not so well known to consumers, so one will find these products only at a full-range retailer, and not at the discounters." For the same reason he also decided against the cultivation of nutmeg gourds. Whether the acreage will be expanded in the future, depends on the fact whether the discount chains will show more interest.
In terms of price, the goods in the organic food trade and at the discounters are priced the same: "Many were concerned about the prices of Bioland at Lidl, but ultimately these fears seemed to be unfounded.The demand from the natural food trade is not big enough and it stagnates - the classic food retail is more flexible as far as the quantities are concerned."
Kugelmann not only sees a rapid growth with regard to organic pumpkins. "In the Palatinate, we recorded a growth of 15-20% per year, both in terms of acreage and turnover." Especially popular for organic farming are vegetables that are often eaten with their peels, or those that are used for baby food. "I expect that we will see a further development of organic pumpkins within the retail trade, as well as carrots and zucchinis, over the next few years."
The food retailers at this time increasingly want to be in direct contact with producers, by-passing any middlemen. The logistic side of things also falls under the sphere of responsibility of Kugelmann. Most of its goods are delivered by freight forwarders to the central warehouses of the retail chains. This trend, in turn, has led to an increase in fresh food logistics companies in the region, he says. "This means for us that we now have two trucks of our own (7.5 ton vehicles), as well as a large sprinter with which we can deliver any last-minute orders or extra deliveries - a service that our customers obviously really appreciate. We sometimes even drive into the Ruhr area, of course for an additional charge - and that's something our customers are finding satisfying as well."
