Lava, the group comprising the six biggest vegetable auctions in Belgium, enjoyed a better year in 2015 compared with 2014, according to the organisation, with crops such as loose tomatoes and multicolour lettuce seeing boosts in production, while items like fennel and Chinese leaves performed “exceptionally well”. Growers equally benefited from higher average prices of many vegetables compared with 2014.
Production of loose tomatoes rose by 8 per cent, while cucumber volumes were up 30 per cent, with sales rocketing 83 per cent. “The area increased by 25 per cent because a number of Dutch growers joined the Lava auctions, giving a spectacular boost to both production and sales year on year,” said Lava’s Benny Cuypers.
Multicolour lettuce also grew, by 35 per cent. “It has been a trend in recent years for the area under ordinary lettuce to decline, diminishing in importance for the trade,” said Cuypers. “Ordinary cabbage lettuce has to contend with the growing success of other types of lettuce, such as lollo rossa, bionda, red and green oak leaf, iceberg and rocket. Multicolour lettuce is also an exponent of this.”
Fennel is gradually becoming more mainstream, with production growing by 13 per cent last year, while Chinese leaves saw production increase by 9 per cent and sales grow by 58 per cent, thanks to an increase in prices from €0.39 to €0.49.
In fact, average prices were noticeably improved on a number of different items compared with the year before. “Overall, the weather conditions last year were good,” explained Cuypers. “Less product was imported from southern Europe last year, because of the extreme heat and drought in the summer and late summer period. This meant that products reached the market much later than otherwise in the autumn. The consequence has been that our auctions experienced a period of good to very good pricing in the summer and autumn, for many products. In the case of our homegrown outdoor products, the drought meant modest supplies in the autumn, with higher prices the result. 2014 overall was not a good year for farming, and 2015 was noticeably better.”
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