Although the astronomical summer only starts today (Thursday), temperatures are already high in the Netherlands. We asked Jantine Star-Heemskerk, Commercial Director at W. Heemskerk what effects the heat has. 

W. Heemskerk is a fruit and vegetable processing business, that delivers about 3 million fresh convenience products and concepts to retailers and fast food chains in the Netherlands and abroad on a weekly basis.

"When temperatures rise, we see that the demand for, especially, all kinds of lettuce types, from rocket to iceberg lettuce, explodes. Within the lettuce range, the effects are greater than even five years ago. The increase in salads being consumed as main meals has contributed to this", says Jantine. "At the same time, the sales of stir fry vegetables has declined and the demand for cooking vegetables has all but collapsed. This is easily explained by the fact that people are eating outdoors and barbecuing now. In addition, fruit salads are very popular and if they are on sale, they sell very quickly."

The hot weather does not mean the fruit and vegetable processor cannot find products. "At the moment, almost all our lettuce comes from the Netherlands. The dry weather is affecting the lettuce, but we, and the growers, are alert to this. Iceberg lettuce are more sensitive on their edges. This means that the lettuce is sometimes harvested earlier, but this leads to lettuce heads that are lighter in weight. But the situation is not worrisome. We survived the extreme shortages in January, so we can handle a bit of sunshine. It will only become a problem if the heat becomes extreme and starts to affect our raw materials. Fortunately we are not in this situation, but a cooling shower of rain is always welcome."