Screeching inflation, buying directly from the farmer increasingly interesting

One place to buy products directly from the land is the Fruittuin van West in Amsterdam. As a consumer you can pick the potatoes from the ground yourself, pick the berries from the bush yourself or take the chicken eggs from the coop. “Our approach is to show people where our food comes from,” says Eva Zweers. “And because we pay a lot of attention to the soil and a healthy ecosystem, the quality of our products is very high. Moreover, it is all in harmony with nature and people.”

Zweers himself speaks highly of the taste of the various products that can be harvested here, such as the potatoes. “We hardly work the soil here and we don’t use any pesticides,” she explains. “As a result, such a potato simply has a much fuller taste.”

Buying from the farmer is much cheaper

But is it also cheaper to buy directly from the grower or the farmer? In any case, a short tour of various farmer’s sales points yields an advantageous picture. At Smit’s Boer & Goed in Stompetoren, for example. Here six eggs cost € 1.80, where you quickly pay € 3.00 for the same box in the supermarket.

For a liter of milk you pay € 1,- at the farmer in Stompetoren. More than twice as much in the supermarket. And the price for a kilo of potatoes is also half lower at Smit’s compared to what the large gritter is asking for it.

Incidentally, more and more people seem to be finding their way to the farmers when it comes to buying products, says Roos Smit from Stompetoren. “By the way, that is not so much because they are cheaper with us, but mainly to support us in the entire nitrogen story. In addition, people need a little personal contact. That also ensures that they keep coming here. That is something that the supermarket doesn’t offer.”

Farmers cautious about price increases

While inflation is shooting up in supermarkets with seven-mile boots, the farmers’ points of sale seem to be a lot more reluctant to deal with it. Like at farm shop Boet 32 ​​in Schagerbrug. “Of course we have to pass on price increases for chicken feed, for example, in our selling price for eggs,” says Danique Houtenbos. “But our price increases are not comparable to those in the supermarket.”

Boer & Goed in Stompetoren is also reluctant to make their products more expensive. “Our prices have increased slightly in recent months,” says Roos Smit. “But then you’re talking about a few percent.”