The supply of broccoli will be smaller in the next few months, according to Gerard Korse of DC Tolpoort from Hoogkarspel, the Netherlands. Because of the warm weather, more broccoli than expected arrived on the market in recent months. The cooler weather of the past few days resulted in a decreasing production. However, the cooler weather is better for the broccoli.

In recent weeks, additional efforts were made to keep quality of the broccoli up. The warm weather resulted in larger broccoli, which was visually bad for quality. “The supply fluctuates and depends on how the grower cuts the broccoli. The smaller the broccoli, the better its shelf life. This was also the case in cauliflowers, which also had a larger supply than expected in recent weeks, so that many growers are now ahead of their harvesting schedules. However, quality of these products is looking better for the next few weeks.”

DC Tolpoort has made considerable investments in cooling. The DC has eight dock boards and 16 cooling cells at its disposal, which mostly get their energy from solar panels. This allows fresh products to be quickly and reliably cooled down to any desired temperature, so that vegetables remain in a good condition. Gerard: “Despite this, it’s still a challenge to keep quality up during the very warm days. The current prognosis, however, is that quality will improve again.”

Prices of broccoli dropped in recent weeks, but are now recovering due to the combination of the end of the holiday period and cooler weather. “Good quality broccoli has good prices right now,” Gerard says. Prices could rise even further. “Because of the warm weather, many growers are now ahead of their prognoses. Now that it’s a bit cooler, supply will decrease a bit. That’s also the case for cauliflower and chicory.”

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