Koos Groot, of chicory company Horti Hydro Cultures, predicts the chicory production will still not be great in the next few months. “The chicory pens now in production were harvested late in the autumn of 2017. Because of the heat at the time, the roots are now less productive. The new roots will only come into production in December. Not much will therefore change in the next three months, productions will be lower than average.”

Demand for chicory has normalised again. Due to the scarcity of chicory, prices are now at a fair level. “That’s needed as well. During the warm summer, the cooling engines worked overtime, and our energy costs rose exponentially,” Koos says.

Up till week 30, there wasn’t much demand on the chicory market, and prices were bad. Chicory didn’t benefit from the shortages in iceberg lettuce. “At the start of the summer, consumers just refused to cook, and we had all kinds of excesses, even in tomatoes. But chicory did make a name for itself as a salad vegetable,” Koos continues. “Retailers that have actions during the summer months do well regarding volumes. Consumers will then mostly eat it as a salad.” After week 30, chicory prices increased. “After the holidays, consumers started cooking regularly again, and demand recovered. With chicory you can go both ways, as a salad and as a cooking vegetable, and that’s a good thing.”

It’s uncertain how production will develop in the next few weeks. In view of the extreme weather conditions last summer when the new pens made their start, the question is whether the productions from these will increase as of December. Koos: “They’re still in the ground now, but the potato and onion harvests are much smaller as well.”

The chicory from Horti Hydro Cultures is sold via The Greenery in cooperation with Quality Growers Holland, a packing company that specialised in packing chicory in flowpack and stretch film. Packing the chicory results in a better presentation and longer shelf life.

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