HAK is one of the largest vegetable brands in Northern Europe. Now the company seems set to shut down the entire production for six weeks due to high energy costs. Managing director Timo Hoogeboom of the Dutch vegetable and pulses company stated: “With current energy prices, it is not feasible to continue production in winter. It’s not just the high price, but also the uncertainty.”
“Today, it is two euros for a cubic meter of gas. It has also been three euros at times. What it will be in January or February, we don’t know. So to be on the safe side, we will stay closed then.” According to Hoogeboom, HAK products will be on the shelves, though, as the company will plan the break when the harvest season is already over.
Due to the energy crisis, HAK, who takes vegetables from the fields during the harvest season and then preserves them in glass jars to preserve them, said the heating required for the process consumes a lot of energy. The jars necessary in this process are more expensive due to the increased cost of energy as well.
Hoogeboom also said that he expects its prices to continue to rise: “Our applesauce has already become about 20 cents more expensive. If energy prices stay this high, you have to think that products across the board will become 30 percent more expensive.”
Source: euroweeklynews.com