Despite the economic crisis, Belgian auction Veiling Hoogstraten has succeeded in notching up a turnover for 2009 of €119.3m, just 1 per cent below the previous year's record result, according to FreshPlaza.
Although strawberry prices were average, tomato prices collapsed in week 20 and never recovered, while pepper prices never reached an acceptable level.
Annual average prices for tomatoes and peppers were down by 25-45 per cent compared with previous years.
With prices remaining very low throughout the year for a number of products, the auction had to rely on selling larger volumes to compensate.
Volume sales of strawberries, which account for over half of the auction's total sales, increased by 16 per cent, while tomatoes rose by 43 per cent and peppers 16 per cent.
Forecasts of production area and volume show a further expected increase in strawberries, tomatoes and peppers for 2010.
