Not for the first time, there has been a shortage of asparagus on the market at the end of the season. "The supply is minimal compared to the demand, and there are two reasons for that," explains Will Teeuwen of Teboza. "First, the supply we expected to come to market in weeks 22–23 actually peaked in the two weeks before that. So we had slightly more volume earlier and less in weeks 22–24 than anticipated. This was purely weather-related. The second reason is that we've seen more damage in the late plots following last year's rainfall than we initially expected. We had to take those plots out of production earlier to ensure sufficient yield from the plants next year."
"That shift in volumes and the early shutdown of some plots is once again causing a shortage at the end of the season, and this seems to be more structural than incidental," Will continued. Teboza will continue harvesting asparagus until the end of week 26. "Considering the working conditions, we've had a good season. It was a complete turnaround from last year, when we were still harvesting in muddy fields into June. Production-wise, the harvest was somewhat disappointing, but that's true for all growers. Pricing, however, has been good and appears slightly better than last year. Still, we really need that. Labour costs in particular have increased sharply, and we therefore need a structurally higher price for our product. Of course, we want asparagus to remain affordable, but we also need a fair price, because if you tally it all up, the return per kilo is now lower than it was five years ago."
Dutch planting
Left: cultivation in Spain, right: sales team Teboza
The Spanish asparagus season has also faced a very challenging year. "Just as the fields were ready for harvesting, the rainy season began here," Will says from Spain. "We saw the same situation here as we had last year in the Netherlands, and it caused problems with two-thirds of the harvest. We had to write off about 10–15% of the crop due to the rain. Normally, we begin planting in March or April, but this year, the last plants only went into the ground last week. That's not ideal, because although asparagus thrives in warmth, Spanish summers bring their own challenges. But we've faced hotter fires before, and overall, I remain optimistic about the Spanish crop in the coming years. We've just had to shift our yield forecasts back by a year."
Planting wrapped up last week
With Erwin Tillemans, Teboza will have a second manager in Spain starting next year. Teboza recently took over Tillemans' neighbouring company Tilla's BV, including 45 hectares of asparagus, the warehouse, and accommodation for seasonal workers. "Erwin has been supplying us with asparagus for years. He had also visited us in Spain many times, and we started discussing whether he would be interested in becoming a farm manager with us. Our fields in Spain are now 80 kilometres apart, which is quite a distance for the current manager to cover. Erwin will start working for us in Spain next season and will even bring his own tractors, so he can operate with familiar equipment. All in all, this is a very positive development and shows that we see plenty of opportunity in asparagus for the coming years," Will concludes.
New plantings in Spain
And the Spanish plots planted last year
For more information:
Will Teeuwen
Teboza
Zandberg 14b
5988 NW Helden
Tel: +31 (0) 77 307 1444
[email protected]
www.teboza.com