| | I receive a very good publication “Fruit & Veg Tech” which combines technical, marketing and industry information from around the world and presents it in a very understandable manner. The following quote in volume 5, No. 5, 2005, caught my attention. “5 years on: Gas price will determine market - factors affecting the market are often out of the hands of the grower doing the production. Gas prices are their next major challenge, but if this leads to a shortage of supply, it could turn some power to the growers that remain."
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The author describes how the natural gas price in the Netherlands will increase by 50% in January 2006, and that will force smaller growers to close down, and tomato supply, which is currently abundant, could shrink. Eventually, however, this could strengthen the sales position of growers who have seen their power reduced at the hands of the retailers over the past five years.
Very interesting how market forces of demand and supply affect our industry. We, here in Alberta, are strongly influenced by what goes on in other parts of the world, especially Mexico. I have seen in 2005, the supply of greenhouse vegetables from Mexico increased, and they stayed in the market place almost year round. I have seen BC packing Mexico tomatoes under their brand and shipping them here to Alberta. With our production costs increasing, are we going to price ourselves out?
I don’t think so. The growers are doing their best to make adjustments from scheduling of their crops to increased productivity and better relationships with the marketers. I think quality and nearness to market are two attributes which are in our favor. We can harvest and supply high quality cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers within a day. I am talking of wholesale commercial markets. Besides that, I have seen many of our growers going directly to consumers through farmer market networks. These are the markets where your customers know you, and have confidence that the product they are getting is safe and good quality. Making some comparisons on distance to markets, in EU market place, it takes over a week to ship tomatoes from North Africa and Turkey, which have growing greenhouse industries, while Holland can ship within 4 days, and differences in quality are reported to be very noticeable. So, you see my point, that with our ability to ship maximum within two days can be a great advantage, and should be used to its fullest.
Going back to producers, in order to stay competitive, we have to examine two major parameters, yields and price scenarios. During 2005, average yields of cucumbers and tomatoes was down. Tomato growers reported an average of close to 53-55 kg/m2 while many cucumber growers reported yields around 110-120 cucus/m2. The cloudy weather in August, partially contributed towards this yield reduction. Yield reduction cannot be blamed on one factor. Growers must constantly monitor their crop management practices. Diseases like Fusarium can reduce yields significantly. Powdery mildews may not kill a plant, but fruit size and yields can be affected.
I am looking forward to a good 2006 season and increased productivity at every level. |
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