Tomato prices fell further in June, in line with multi-year European price trends. This is shown in a new update of the tomato dashboard maintained by the European Commission. However, it is notable that in the four reference countries, including the Netherlands, prices are still mostly well above the five-year averages.
Across the board, the average kilogram price in the European Union came to €1.47 in June, 40 euro cents above the five-year average and also 17 euro cents above the maximum price of the past five years.
EU average tomato prices. Click here to enlarge.
For the countries included in the dashboard individually, the kilogram prices come to 1.49 euros in Italy, 1.26 euros in Spain, 1.20 euros in the Netherlands, and 2.70 euros in France. For Spain and France, there was the usual price rise in June, although the price rise in France was higher than the past five years (18% increase over May compared to the normal 4%).
In the Netherlands and Italy, prices fell. In Italy to the level of the five-year maximum. In the Netherlands, the price is still above this, although it fell harder than usual compared to May (-18% compared to 'normal' -6%).
Tomato prices in the Netherlands. Click here to enlarge.
Cocktail tomatoes
Those who think that consumers are more likely to abandon tomatoes due to higher prices (i.e., the result of inflation and passing on increased costs) are wrong. At least, that is what German market analysts at AMI point out. They see that consumers are still buying the more expensive varieties, such as cocktail tomatoes, just more often from discounters. In 2022, half of the German tomato purchases included cocktail tomatoes in the basket.
The June drop in prices has not yet overcome the tomato market. This is also shown by Belgian figures from the Federation of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives. Prices here have already been below the five-year average since the end of June.
Figures represented in the chart via: www.vlaanderen.be/landbouwcijfers