Interest in rhubarb is limited.

After a July break, the second part of this year's rhubarb harvest season has begun. However, there doesn't seem to be much increased interest in rhubarb from processors at the moment. It appears that the second part of the rhubarb campaign in 2024 will be quite lackluster.

This is evidenced by what is happening with purchase prices. Namely, we are seeing a decrease in these prices. Currently, prices are mostly between 5.50-6.50 PLN/kg (1.29-1.52 EUR/kg). It seems that there is still relatively little supply, but the limited interest from the processing sector has put some pressure on prices. The current average price (6.00 PLN/kg, or 1.40 EUR/kg) is nearly 8 percent lower than the peak value of this indicator in the current season.

However, it must be remembered that rhubarb remains expensive in the market this year. The dominant feature of the 2024 season is the poor harvest of this vegetable and its consistently limited supply. Even during the peak of the first phase of the season, in the first half of July, purchase prices did not drop below 5.00 PLN/kg (1.17 EUR/kg) on average. For comparison and reminder, in the expensive 2023 season, it was a maximum of 3.30 PLN/kg (0.77 EUR/kg) on average.

It seems that these issues with low supply and their consequence in the form of high prices are the main reason for the weak current interest from rhubarb processors. The start of the second part of the campaign doesn't look impressive because there isn't much raw material in the market to drive this campaign.