Artichoke plants like it warm, but not too hot. An average of 15 degrees Celsius is ideal, but up to 22 degrees Celsius is no problem. Just before the closed inflorescences are harvested, the plant can even tolerate temperatures as low as 5 degrees Celsius. In any case, one thing is particularly important for them: plenty of rain! Due to these circumstances, artichokes in Spain are harvested in winter - at the end of December. Normally... Due to the high temperatures and lack of rainfall last summer, many plants dried out after planting and had to be replanted. These delays are now making themselves felt. The harvest started late (in January) and is smaller than usual - although the quality is still high. As a result, prices for artichokes from Spain have risen.

The forecasts for Peru are similar: extreme weather events intensified by El Nino will continue to cause massive disruption to the harvest there. Added to this are higher freight costs due to the tense container ship situation on the world's oceans.

The news from our partners in Egypt is initially more positive in terms of yield: the harvest there started as normal in January and is going well so far - with high-quality buds. If the forecasts come true and the yield on the 8,000 hectares of cultivation area is actually 35,000 tons, this would be at the same level as in 2023. However, prices will also increase here, as inflation in Egypt has been rising unabated since mid-2022.

It is currently uncertain how the global demand for artichokes will develop due to the price increases. If necessary, it may be worth considering a change of caliber from 30/40 to 25/30 or from quartered to sliced. With our broad product portfolio in this article group, you can rely on the best quality standards - as with all others, of course.

The beginning of the year is usually a good time to buy tuna. In terms of raw materials, this is also true in 2024, as raw material prices for skipjack and yellowfin tuna have fallen slightly. However, increased freight costs due to the Problems with the Suez Canal (and the resulting bypasses) have led to significant price increases and are currently making goods from the Far East (fishing area 71) completely unattractive. The extent to which tuna from fishing zone 34 near Ghana and tuna from the East Pacific near Ecuador (fishing zone 87) represent an alternative will become clear in the coming weeks. This is because the three-month "FAD ban" (Fish Aggregation Devices - FAD) began in the former in January and will reduce the catch volume accordingly. It remains to be seen to what extent this will also affect the prices of goods from the East Pacific.

The anchovy situation remains tense. Catches around Peru - but also elsewhere - are low. This is due to warmer water temperatures, which cause the fish to dive. It is uncertain whether the fish stocks there will recover and reproduce undisturbed. So far, this is at least a vague hope. In the meantime, prices for the delicacy have exploded due to the severely limited supply and the continued small size of the fish - and the market is still virtually empty. Who Anchovies If you want to buy the latest products, you not only have to expect high prices, but possibly even unpredictable waiting times. We will of course do our best to find new supply channels and will keep you up to date in our Food News when new goods arrive.

Last year, the forecasts for pineapples from Thailand were not good. This has now been confirmed by concrete figures: At 682,330 tons, the total harvest volume in 2023 was around 45 percent lower than in 2022. The main reason for this was the unusually high and prolonged temperature records of up to 46 degrees - there was often talk of a "monster heat wave" in Asia. In addition to this weather phenomenon - which was influenced by El Nino, among other things - reduced plantation areas also led to a decline in yields. The Thai Food Processors Association (TFPA) currently estimates the pineapple harvest volume for 2024 at 786,300 tons. This would still be 15 percent higher than the previous year 2023.

In mid-January, prices per kilogram of raw produce in Thailand were between 10.20 and 11.80 Thai baht. In the east of the country, prices tend to be in the upper range, as the harvest volume and supply are lower there. As the prices for canned pineapple are also rising due to higher freight costs (see our article on the Suez Canal), customer demand for pineapple products remains low. Only the upcoming Chinese New Year and Ramadan could increase freight volumes to China and the Middle East.

What happens now? Experts estimate that the summer harvest will also be delayed due to the late rains in recent months. It is currently difficult to predict how the size and quality of the fruit will develop. We will keep you up to date.