Organic eggplants can be found year-round at the Karl Eschenbach GmbH company, managing director Mariano Thanner tells us. He sources the product from Germany and Spain, although at present he offers mainly goods from Italy. "Prices are much higher than last year. This is mainly due to the drought and dryness. Due to the floods and floods Italy, some harvest volumes have been lost, such as in the region around Lake Garda. In the market town of Lana, from which we purchase organic apples, there was 20 cm of hail on the ground."

Impaired qualities
Thanner describes the quality of the eggplants as 'mediocre'. "Shelf life has been affected due to high humidity. This is likely to affect around 80 percent of all fruit and vegetable products. Shortages are definitely to be expected for some products, such as strawberries. As a result, prices will be raised sharply again. After all, we also have to recoup the margins we've lost."

Demand for eggplant is always there, he said. "We now only sell our produce here at the stand. Our customers include restaurateurs, weekly market traders, wholesalers, etc. around Munich, Ingolstadt, Innsbruck and even Salzburg." Tomatoes and cucumbers are the most sought-after products apart from strawberries and asparagus, he said.

Prices have risen sharply
The price of salads is about a third, if not double, more expensive than last year, he said. "German organic cucumbers are currently priced at EUR 17.00 for twelve, Spanish produce at EUR 9.00. Kohlrabi from Italy is at 0.90 EUR, while German kohlrabi is 1.50 EUR per piece. We're selling a little less because school cafeterias are bailing on the prices." Apart from that, he says he is currently receiving too few salads and cucumbers.

Currently, the company also offers organic pears and organic grapefruits from Argentina. "Prices are 50 percent higher than normal. This is due to increased transportation costs. When you order smaller quantities, you also lose the volume premium. Items like horseradish we have to drop given the high delivery costs."

Mariano Thanner has worked at the Munich wholesale market for 34 years and specialized in organic goods seven years ago. "Before that, I primarily supplied the food service industry. After this stand became vacant, the Eschenbaum company took it over whereupon I started as a salesman. I would be happy if we could find more staff. What is not recommended in this, however, is to work with temporary employment agencies, as they sometimes charge horrendous prices that are unacceptable."

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com