This time of year, Dutch products like cucumber, bell pepper and aubergine can hardly be found in the trade channels. The majority of the products comes from Spain. Tomatoes are the only exception.
Most of the vine tomatoes come from the Netherlands and quality is high. The fruit is shiny and the stems look fresh. The loose tomatoes usually come from Spain and Morocco. Quality of these is much poorer. The fruit often looks a bit duller and its appearance is often less good. Spots and alternaria result in a poorer shelf life for the fruit.
High quality Spanish cucumber
Most of the cucumbers now come from Spain, and these are high quality. In aubergines, we’re seeing very nice crops, although some calyxes are a bit dry, disrupting the total image somewhat.
Quality of Spanish bell pepper changeable
The quality of bell pepper is changeable. Some of the batches are great with shiny products, but other batches can barely be called class I, because of skin damage.
Mediocre quality of iceberg lettuce
Finally, the quality of iceberg lettuce is mediocre. The shape of the lettuce isn’t as good as a few weeks ago. Some of the veins are coloured red. When peeling the bulbs, blemishes are more likely to occur because of this.
Source: KCB