Dutch bell pepper prices have been decent for weeks, but there is a big difference between the prices per size. Large sizes in particular currently yield high prices, but here the supply is limited.
"For the rest of the season, the vast majority of the peppers will be a bit smaller," predicts Berry Gresnigt of pepper sorter MidFresh. The company supplies to Van Oers United.
Remco Beekman of another marketing company, Soho Produce, agrees. "The productions have been hit hard by the heat."
Better sizes
At MidFresh in Harmelen, where Berry is the manager, the heat effect is clearly visible. "Everything is a bit smaller than usual, this is normal after extreme heat."
There were quality problems immediately after the heat due to sunburn, but that is behind us now. "In the new plantings there sometimes still is some tip rot, because those fruits have grown too fast due to the heat, but it is not too bad. We can sort it out."
In the hall at MidFresh
Price difference between large and small
There are few larger sizes as opposed to many smaller sizes. “And so a good price doesn't help,” explains Remco Beekman, CEO of Soho Produce. On Wednesday, he saw that the pepper prices for the larger sizes were at a good level. “A box of yellow peppers yielded 16 euros today, a box of orange 17 euros and a box of red sold at 12.50 euros.” Prices were also good the week before.
The prices for the smaller sizes are at a much lower level, around five euros. Berry also sees that big price difference. "The price difference between large and small is quite substantial. The large sizes reach 1.60, the small ones easily one euro less."
Remco has not yet found large volumes of Spanish product on the market. "Those volumes will not come onto the market until later."
Traffic lights flow-packed in the foreground
A lot packed, a lot of 'traffic lights'
The season will continue for another eight weeks at MidFresh. They do not sort Spanish product in Harmelen. "For the rest of the season, the output will continue to be somewhat lower", Berry expects, who also indicates that there is a striking volume of extra packaging this year.
"We have done a lot more flowpack and sealing with film. A known consequence of the coronavirus. The traffic lights therefore also performed well, because people did their shopping less often and therefore preferred to buy three-pepper packs rather than loose. But you are seeing less and less green in the traffic lights. In Germany, there is no longer green in it at all. That's why we have packed a lot of 2x red and 1x yellow."
For more information:
MidFresh
www.midfresh.nl
info@midfresh.nl
Soho Produce
www.sohoproduce.com