Dutch salads have long found favour in the UK and close proximity market, coupled with a strong reputation as a top quality producer, has brought rewards. However, similarly to other salad producers, growers have experienced serious challenges over the past 12 months.
According to recent figures from The Greenery, Holland produced 665,000 tonnes of tomatoes in 2005 and exported 109,000t of them to the UK.
“Over the last three years Dutch tomato exports to the UK have been higher than UK production,” says Hans ver Wegen, market analyst for The Greenery. “The UK takes almost 20 per cent of Dutch tomatoes in terms of volume and value.”
Ver Wegen notes that poor prices in 2004 led to many tomato growers shifting production to premium varieties - the types that consumers are generally more willing to pay for.
He further adds that although there has been a shift by growers towards lower-yielding tomato varieties such as cherry, cocktail and tomatoes on the vine, production has increased.
In terms of the 2006 season, The Greenery forecasts similar tomato volumes to last year, although acreage is expected to be slightly higher. “Average yield will drop a little as the shift towards cocktail varieties continues with Amoroso taking over the lead from the Aranca variety,” ver Wegen says.
Pepper production is also rising and last year’s crop reached 345,000t, compared to 318,000t in 2004. Exports to the UK broke the 60,000t barrier, reaching 63,000t in 2005.
Ver Wegen notes that compared to tomatoes, pepper penetration in the UK is low, although retail activity and price promotions in recent years have helped to develop the category.
Despite the increase, however, poor prices were reported. “The prices some growers got for their peppers were less than their costs,” says Renske van der Spek of Rainbow Growers Group. “This resulted in a couple of smaller growers exiting the market.”
Ver Wegen further notes that chilli prices were low, while aubergines fetched mediocre prices. Tomatoes on the vine fared better, with van der Spek reporting solid prices up to autumn.
The Greenery attributed last year’s lacklustre pepper prices to Spanish competition. “The earlier Spanish harvest was affected by problems with winter weather which hit their crop,” ver Wegen says. “Their season was extended and Spanish peppers were in the market at the same time as Dutch product.”
However, he says that pepper acreage is stable and production is forecast to rise because of better-yielding varieties and a shift towards new, larger greenhouses.
Orange peppers are in favour and more are to be produced, with supplies expected to be 20 per cent higher this year than in 2005.
“For the UK market, more volumes of the Fiesta and Cupera varieties will be grown in order to supply enough quantity of smaller-sized peppers,” says ver Wegen.
Salad exports to the UK peak during May and June but high demand can last up to October, according to Henk Schwagermann of Van Rijn Trading BV. However, he notes that export demand generally falls a little in July and August because of the holidays.
Van Rijn exports a number of tomatoes to the UK such as loose, vine, beef and cherry varieties. It is also a significant exporter of other salad products including peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and aubergines.
Being able to offer year-round supplies is a priority for Van Rijn and the company is keen to encompass more products under its Rijnstar brand.
It is also hoping to broaden its customer base and believes that while no one country can produce and sell top produce 100 per cent of the time, that day is getting ever closer.
The UK is Valstar Holland’s biggest export market and the firm supplies a range of cucumbers, tomatoes, aubergines and peppers.
“We work closely with our growers and food service consumers,” says Martijn de Graaf, sales manager. “By having such good relationships, we know what our UK consumers want and we can then go back to breeders and producers and tailor products that suit this market best.”
De Graaf notes that the Dutch salad sector has seen noticeable changes and the market is now more consumer driven rather than production driven. “In the past, growers decided what they wanted to grow,” he explains. “Now, times have changed and we look to the grower and consumer to tell us what they want. For example, if they want sweeter tomatoes, we do everything possible to come up with products that have a higher Brix level.”
In a free market, competition is a fact of life. Italy and Spain are two of the main rivals to the Netherlands during the winter months but Poland is also emerging as a serious competitor.
“We overcome competition by concentrating on producing high-quality goods,” de Graaf says. “We also offer the best service and quality throughout the supply chain.”
Valstar further believes that it has an advantage over its rivals as it has specialist offices for certain categories. “Valstar Holland focuses on salads and we have other offices within the group dealing specifically with berries, brassicas, Chinese imports etc,” de Graaf tells FPJ.
Similarly to UK growers, Dutch producers acknowledge that energy prices are getting higher and this is affecting the sector.
We’ve seen rising energy prices for the past year,” de Graaf says. “Growers are expecting better prices and are hoping they’ll recoup some of their higher costs.”
However, observers note that unless product is in short supply, most buyers do not want to pay more for their fresh produce.
“There will always be someone who is afraid not to sell and will accept too low a price for his harvest,” Schwagermann says. “As there are now so many offering points (exporters, growers which are exporting themselves, organisations, traders with their own connections) price building and holding will become more difficult, especially for the grower with his expensive energy and labour costs, legal regulations etc.”
The industry has taken stock following recent challenges. “Because of the bad prices, many grower associations are busy developing new concepts and products and feel the need to co-operate more than before,” van der Spek explains.
Rainbow Growers Group recently introduced the snack cucumber Calimero into its product range. “This is a very tasty, small cucumber of approximately 10cm which weighs 35g,” van der Spek explains. “Rainbow isn’t only targeting the supermarkets, we’re also looking at the foodservice market and see this product as possibly entering new markets.”
Rainbow also specialises in peppers and grows on demand. It produces smaller varieties such as the tomato pepper, cherry pepper and sweet pointed pepper. “We think it’s a good way to work this way: it gives some security for the grower as well for the customer because we have reserved the products for them,” van der Spek says.
While Rainbow Growers has high hopes for its new lines, one of its most recent products failed to find a captive audience. “One UK supermarket tried to sell the cherry bomb for a couple of months but didn’t succeed to make it a success,” says van der Spek.
“According to the consumer, they didn’t know what to do with it. Chillies are already a speciality, let alone the cherry bomb. This made us decide to stop production.”
Despite the failure of some products to set the market alight, crop advances and consumer demand for new varieties has driven growers to new heights. This has led to the availability of new salad varieties.
“Everyone is looking at new lines,” de Graaf says. “In a short amount of time, Santa tomatoes have become very popular, and more work is being carried out to find new varieties and sizes.”
While growers note that the UK market remains a demanding one in terms of certification and food hygiene standards, prices are being squeezed.
“Two years ago, the UK was willing to pay higher prices for all the demands and certificates it required,” says a Dutch-based producer who declined to be named. “Now, it still wants guarantees but with the retail price wars, prices aren’t at a premium any longer.”
Nevertheless, Dutch producers are confident that their strong reputation for producing high-quality products with minimum use of pesticides will result in further gains. “Rainbow thinks that growing as environmentally friendly as possible is getting more important than ever,” van der Spek says.
“Dutch growers are very strict with the use of crop protection and combined with the favourable Dutch climate, I believe that nobody can grow as clean as our growers. In this scenario, Dutch growers can ask higher prices for their clean products and with this extra money they can grow under artificial light year-round.”
Similarly to The Greenery, Rainbow Growers Group believes that further categorisation is needed in the sector.
“Take our snack cucumber for example.” Van der Spek says. “Many supermarkets place this product next to the standard cucumber but I don’t think this is a good way to promote this product. The mini cue is a snack product, it’s an impulse buy. This means it has to be placed alongside other impulse buys.”
While new products need to be nurtured, observers believe education about traditional fresh produce is also important.
Van der Spek notes that many consumers don’t know the difference in taste between an orange or green pepper. “There are a lot of opportunities to promote this product, more than supermarkets are tending to do right now,” he claims.
Investment remains a priority for the Dutch salad sector and a number of producers are embarking on expansion programmes. Rainbow notes that three of its growers are developing a large-scale greenhouse project, encompassing 60 hectares. The first part of the programme, which consists of 20 hectares, will be in production in 2007.
SALANOVA TO BUILD ON BERLIN RECOGNITION
Dutch breeding company Rijk Zwaan scored a success in early February when its Salanova branded salad was awarded the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award 2006.
Salanova is the brand name Rijk Zwaan uses for its lettuce varieties which are quick and easy to prepare. According to the company, this ‘convenience lettuce’, which falls apart into ready-to-use small leaves after the stem has been cut off, was developed to provide consumers, food-processing plants and the food-service industry with a large number of advantages.
“We are extremely proud and delighted to have won this prestigious award,” says Jan Doldersum, co-ordinator of international marketing projects. “This success is also thanks to our partners worldwide, who were first in taking on the challenges of growing, processing and/or marketing Salanova.”
Salanova is grown worldwide in a number of countries including Australia, the US, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Rijk Zwaan is hoping that its new seed varieties will find favour. Its 11-604 RZ product is a green, smooth-leaved chicory variety, which is suitable for outdoor cultivation from late spring through to autumn. According to Rijk Zwaan, this variety has a full heart and a strong base and during the spring, is slower-bolting than Mikado RZ and other standard varieties.
The firm has also made headway on two frisee products. The leaves of its 11-238 RZ variety is similar to those of Matteo. In southern Europe it can be grown during autumn and in northern Europe, growing is extended to both summer and autumn production.
Its fine frisee 11-473 RZ variety produces dark green leaves and is resistant to tipburn and bolting. It can be produced during the summer and autumn.
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