At present, many countries in Europe are in the garlic harvest season, such as Spain, France and Italy. Unfortunately, due to climate issues, northern Italy, as well as northern France and the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain, are all facing concerns. The loss is primarily organizational in nature, there is a delay in the drying process of the product, and it is not directly related to quality, although the quality will still be somewhat lower, and there is a considerable amount of defective product that needs to be screened to achieve the expected first grade quality.
As the largest producer of garlic in Europe, Spanish garlic (ajo españa) prices have continued to rise over the past two to three months due to the reduction of stock in warehouses across Europe. Italian garlic (aglio italiano) prices are completely acceptable for the industry, 20-30% higher than the same period last year.
The direct competitors of European garlic are China, Egypt and Turkey. The Chinese garlic harvest season is satisfactory, with high quality levels but few suitable sizes, and prices were relatively reasonable, but not low in view of the ongoing Suez crisis and the necessity to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope, due to increased shipping costs and delivery delays. As far as Egypt is concerned, the quality is acceptable, but the quantity of garlic is less than last year. However, it is worth noting that exports to the Middle East and Asian markets have become difficult, also due to the Suez crisis. Therefore, this will only increase the availability of exports to Europe. Turkey also recorded good quality, but there was a reduction in the amount available due to reduced acreage. The price is quite high, but slightly lower than Spanish, Italian or French products.
All the countries mentioned above are in the process of harvesting new season garlic and need to wait for the product to enter the cold storage to finalize the quality and quantity available. What is certain is that this year's price will not be low under any circumstances.
Source: International Garlic Report news collation
