Higher wages for harvest workers: up to 20 euros per kilo of asparagus

The 2023 asparagus season has started. Farmers’ costs have risen sharply, mainly because of the higher minimum wage. The question remains: What are consumers willing to pay?

White heads sticking out of the dark earth: the asparagus season has begun at Gut Kuhlendahl in Velbert near Wuppertal. The helpers from Eastern Europe have been harvesting the popular vegetables since the early morning. The asparagus ripens under thermal foils, the quantities are still small, but that could change soon thanks to rising temperatures, says farmer Peter Wiemer: “The temperatures are gradually such that the asparagus feel comfortable and grow. That means that we are in the likely to harvest more in the coming weeks.”

A kilogram currently costs up to 17.50 euros in his farm shop, depending on the quality. Customer Anja Stotz finds that a steep price, which she is nonetheless willing to pay. “The asparagus season is short, we like to eat asparagus, so we accept it.” And elsewhere, she knows, asparagus costs even more: 20 or even 21 euros per kilogram.

Since October 12 euros per hour

Asparagus is also being cut and sold by asparagus farmer Heiner Lövenich in Düren. For him, too, a kilogram currently costs up to 17 euros. Actually not enough to cover his production costs, he says. These have increased significantly compared to the 2022 season because the minimum wage was raised to twelve euros per hour on October 1st.

Lövenich now spends 20 percent more on the wages of his Polish and Romanian harvest workers. He does not yet know whether he can also generate these additional costs. “I don’t think prices will rise as much as they should. Because private customers and supermarkets aren’t willing to pay for it either. That’s something that actually scares me.”

Italian asparagus is half the price

Lövenich’s concern is no coincidence. He supplies wholesalers and supermarkets and has long been competing with foreign products. “Just recently I called a long-standing customer to tell him that we are harvesting asparagus before Easter and whether he would like to buy some.” The customer denied that he had already ordered Italian asparagus, which only cost half.

According to the German Farmers’ Association, 80 percent of the asparagus sold in Germany is grown here – more than any other vegetable. But globalization has also arrived in the asparagus industry, says association president Joachim Rukwied. “In countries where the minimum wage is significantly lower than ours, farmers can also offer their products more cheaply.” That is why his association is calling for a uniform minimum wage in the EU. “We need a level playing field across Europe,” said Rukwied.

production volumes are falling

On average, the German eats about 1.5 kilograms of asparagus per year, from 2017 to 2020 the amount was still 1.7 kilograms. Farmer Lövenich is closely monitoring developments on the market and has already reduced production volumes for green asparagus, for example, because he could not keep up with the Spanish product in terms of price. He also grows less white asparagus today than he used to. He’s not the only one. “That’s the logical consequence. We can’t grow something that we won’t earn money with later.”

Farmer Peter Wiemer from Velbert draws hope from the Easter business, which got off to a good start. A year ago, shortly after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the buying mood among customers was more subdued. He hopes to convince with quality. “We all want the minimum wage. This increases production costs, so the products also become more expensive.” At the end of the asparagus season, he will be able to say whether his wish will come true. This traditionally lasts until June 24th.