“The storage life of endives is not very good, so they must be sold right away,” explains Jean Pierre Dalle of the company Ribambelle. “At the end of July, we were faced with a heatwave for three days, followed by a period of intense rainfall in September, October and November. There was too much rain in the fields to harvest, and the roots stagnated in water. As a result, the quality is really average.”
The harvest of the roots is now complete. “There are a lot of small roots and very little merchandise. Compared to a normal year, the producers are supplying about 20% fewer endives. The advantage is that prices are above average, which balances out the volume with the price. For the coming weeks, we are confident that prices will be good for the producers.” Jean Pierre adds that the demand for endives has been very good since Monday. “Like every year, however, it was very calm during the Christmas holidays.”
Jean-Pierre fears a problematic production for September. “Usually, many producers keep some roots to put them on the market in September. But since the root does not look great, they might not take the risk to sow during this period. If the demand is good in April, May and June, they will get rid of all the roots for a good price and they will not risk to start again in September with a lower quality and an unknown price. This will be a big problem. I really wonder if we will have any merchandise to sell. The Netherlands and Belgium are faced with the same problem. We can buy a little from them, but it is much more expensive than our production, so it is not very interesting.”
For more information:
Jean-Pierre Dalle
Ribambelle
Zone Artipole No. 1
Allée d’Espagne
BP 90040 Monchy le Preux
62051 Saint Laurent Blangy Cedex
Phone: +33 (0)3 21 157 161
jp.dalle@ribambelle.biz
www.ribambelle.biz