In week 41, the first French walnuts in shell were shipped to the Hamburg wholesale market. This meant that the season started somewhat earlier than last year, says Niels Rostren, buyer and seller at specialized trading agency Ernst Lüders & Co. "Demand at the start of the season is quite normal or similar to other years. However, it remains to be seen what impact the difficult economic situation will have on consumption."
Over the years, Ernst Lüders & Co. has been able to assert itself as a point of contact for nuts and is primarily dedicated to the procurement as well as the distribution of French walnuts and hazelnuts.
Rostren: "In wholesale, the larger goods (32-34mm and 34mm+) are always well received. Unfortunately, the French walnuts tend to be smaller this year. In all likelihood, there will only be very limited quantities of larger nuts. The smaller calibers (28-30mm and 30-32mm), on the other hand, will go mainly to retailers. But due to changes in consumer behavior, we will probably be able to place less volume in this market segment. This will all play out soon."
When it comes to walnuts, France is in direct competition with goods from overseas, Rostren continues. "Chile still has stocks remaining, according to current data. The US is now successively starting to harvest the new crop, expecting strong volumes."
Whether there will be corresponding volume and price pressure later in the season is difficult to predict at the moment, he said. In addition to food retailers, walnuts are marketed mainly through weekly markets and - later om-through Christmas markets. "We observe an annual sales peak in the pre-Christmas period, which usually starts earlier compared to perishable fruit and vegetable products. Normally, larger quantities are ordered as early as mid-November because people want to stock up on goods early," Rostren said.
Slow chestnut sales
Slightly earlier than the first walnuts, French chestnuts are also already being shipped out. "The French campaign got rolling quite early this year. Unfortunately, sales have now stalled a bit. We hope that the market will recover somewhat in the coming weeks." Prices are nevertheless approximating last year's levels. A price adjustment to accelerate sales will only be considered later in the season, Rostren adds.
Below-average hazelnut harvest
Rounding out the seasonal supply of tree nuts are French hazelnuts. "We will unfortunately only have small volumes available this year, with a very small proportion of larger products (22-24 mm). We do purchase complementary goods from Italy, but these are of smaller sizes as well."
For more information:
Niels Rostren
Ernst Lüders GmbH & Co. KG
Großmarkt Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 32 55 50 0
Email: luedagent@t-online.de
Internet: www.ernst-lueders.de