The last time Kees Havenaar spoke about the Spanish greenhouse vegetable season on this site was before the Fruit Attraction. "According to many people, there would be panic about certain products as soon as it would get cold in the Netherlands and Belgium and mainly in tomatoes. Now in the Netherlands, they have already been ice skating, and it has been raining heavily in Almeria, but panic in the trade because of scarcity? No way, or 'nada' as we say here in Spain," said the Dutchman who has lived and worked in Spain for several decades.
"In September, there were all kinds of claims being made. Because of gas prices, many crops would stop early, and there would be few or no autumn crops. But I don't notice anything of this sort," says Kees. "Trade this autumn has been very normal. We have had a few outliers. For instance, the green peppers colored through quickly because of the high temperatures, which meant that there were very few green peppers available for three weeks. The same thing happened with the aubergines. They grew quickly, which meant that there were many kilos in a short time, but then there was a dip. In contrast, courgettes are quite cheap. In fact, for more than a month, they haven't come out of the dip, even during the week with the bad weather, and those kinds of weather conditions normally improve prices for aubergines."
Kees among the peppers
"The market situation for peppers was dramatic—what a state of affairs. In AlmerÃa, a lot of early peppers were set, and the Netherlands went on growing their own for a very long time. To this was then added imports from Morocco," lists Kees. "Currently, the pepper market is still a drama. But basically, everything is on the back burner, as we say in the trade, it is a 'dead horse on a rope,'" Havenaar said. "Meanwhile, we secretly start looking towards 2023 as to what spring will bring. Will that be another madness in vine tomatoes? Will peppers go to 15 euros or higher again and red peppers to 20 euros? We will all have to wait and see because I still don't have the famous crystal ball!"
For more information:
Kees Havenaar 
Frutas Luna
Tel +34 950 178 653
kees@frutasluna.com
www.frutasluna.com