Expensive courgettes on the Polish market

The wholesale courgette market in Poland is witnessing a repeat of the situation in the second half of January this year. A sharp drop in the availability of courgette in Spain caused a drastic increase in the price of this vegetable. The problem with the supply of courgettes on the markets of importers of this vegetable, including Poland, is a derivative of the supply problems in Spain, but not only.

A dozen or so days ago a wind came over Europe from Africa carrying clouds of Saharan sand. Much of this sand settled on greenhouses in Almeria, Spain, cutting the plants off from the sun and thus slowing down vegetation and reducing the current harvest. The supply of many vegetables has fallen, but courgettes have suffered even more than others. In addition, in Spain, there was a strike of transport workers who blocked roads, preventing the timely delivery of vegetables for export as well.

All this has translated into a sharp drop in the supply of Spanish vegetables on the markets of European countries. Courgettes have also suffered. And the suppliers of the big retailers, seeing what was happening, increased current demand to get stock.

In Spain, courgette prices at wholesale auctions in Almeria have increased almost fivefold. A slight correction was recorded there yesterday, but prices still remained high - in the range of €2.13-2.85/kg. In Poland, courgette prices in the larger-scale wholesale trade have risen by 136 per cent (or almost two and a half times) and are almost as high as they were in the second half of January, when the average price at large wholesalers reached 14.00 PLN per kg. Now, with prices ranging from 11.00-15.00 PLN/kg, the average is 13.00 PLN/kg.