White cabbage on the Polish Market - it will be more and more difficult

2021-04-13 10:51

The supply of white cabbage in Poland is shrinking, and if this were a "normal" season, one without the COVID-19 pandemic, the prices of this vegetable would probably already be rising. But we have a pandemic, and the government is maintaining draconian restrictions, including a blockade of the catering sector. And this is hitting demand for white cabbage hard.

Despite this, sales prices at the large wholesalers have managed to strengthen somewhat and are now mostly in the 0.70-1.00 zł/kg range for 'market' goods. As can be seen in the chart below, this is not a very high level, but it is also clearly higher than that of the weak season.

The problem is that it is not easy to sell cabbage now that only retail and processing are left. The lack of a HoReCa sector is a huge gap in the current demand for this vegetable. And it will be even bigger, because the time is coming when the number of events has jumped. And that is not all. More and more imported cabbage is coming to our market, cabbage that is mainly destined for retail, thus "eating out" part of the demand for domestic cabbage. For the time being, imported cabbage from Macedonia has wholesale prices at 3.50-4.50 zlotys per head, which somewhat dampens any potential consumer interest, but prices will fall quickly.

To sum up, the situation on the white cabbage market is already difficult due to limited demand (as a result of anti-covid restrictions). And it will be more difficult, because there will be growing competition from young cabbage. Thus, it may be that the current price levels are the maximum for the season, and at the end of the season it will only get cheaper (as was the case last year, for example).

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