The demand for asparagus in Germany has been falling for years – consumers benefit from stable prices. Direct marketers in particular often had a difficult time at the end of the asparagus season.
In view of falling demand for asparagus and stable consumer prices, a rather mixed season for farmers is coming to an end. The season was very different for the individual farms, said market expert Claudio Gläßer from the Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI) in Bonn. The asparagus season ends on June 24th, St. John’s Day.
Gläßer said that the share of food retail in the purchase volume of asparagus continued to increase. Consumers are price sensitive. Special offers at discounters, for example, were in high demand. Accordingly, farmers who had sold their goods through food retailers were satisfied this year.
Mixed record
Direct marketing, on the other hand, was more difficult this year, said Gläßer. “Depending on the region and the purchasing power in the region, they had lower sales volumes this year than in previous years.” He knows companies that did not end the season well. Others, on the other hand, are pleased with the good business.
The consumer prices for asparagus remained at the previous year’s level for a long period of time. At the beginning of the season they were a little lower than in the previous year, then rose a little in the following weeks and finally reached the level of 2021.
The average price for a kilo of white German asparagus this year was EUR 8.96 – that is an average across all retail classes and sales channels. This price was on average one euro higher than in May 2022.
Very low demand
However, according to Gläßer, the prices cannot be compared directly. “The price in May last year was extremely low,” he said. The reason was the large supply of asparagus and the very cautious demand from customers.
Basically, the demand for asparagus has declined in recent years. This is reflected in the decline in acreage across Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, asparagus was produced on 21,300 hectares last year, which was almost 5 percent less than in 2021 and the lowest value since 2015.
As a result, around 110,300 tons of asparagus were harvested in Germany last year. Compared to 2021, the harvest fell by almost 8 percent. Less asparagus was last cut in 2013 with 103,100 tons. With 25,300 tons, most of the asparagus was harvested in Lower Saxony in 2022, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia with 20,300 tons and Brandenburg with 18,700 tons.
Source: Stern
