At first glance, one might wonder why an orchard growing pumpkins, strawberries and cherries is now also dedicated to growing rice and quinoa. However, Thomas Knab, Managing Director of Obsthof Knab, sees it as an interesting complement to his other product range. He and his brother Andreas came up with the idea after the latter was asked to conduct a product experiment for his agricultural master’s exam – and chose quinoa. “Food retailers are also excited about regional quinoa. Now we can get good returns and good sales,” says Knab.
Thomas Knab in the quinoa field
Rice can’t compete, quinoa can
“Rice, like quinoa, can be
harvested and marketed in late summer and has a shelf life of three years. Quinoa, on the other hand, is available all year round,” says Knab. Its customers include food retailers and agricultural stores in Bavaria, although they have also been able to supply agricultural stores throughout the country and have even sold goods to Kazakhstan once. rice, it might be difficult to follow in terms of price, because we are a little more expensive, because the production costs in Germany are of course higher than in other countries. With quinoa, however, we can follow well in terms of quality and price. At the same time, we are in the middle in terms of MSRP,” says Knab. “The soils are getting drier and drier. Of course, we need something that generates sales. Quinoa will not drive wheat out of the market, but will remain a niche product. »
Good pumpkin and strawberry season, bad cherry season
Knab has been able to market its pumpkins well this year. “Our colleagues had to deal with a lot of rain, which is why some of them suffered crop losses. Things weren’t going so well for the cherries. At the end of March, we already had the first frosts and about 90% damage. But thanks to our frost insurance, we were able to at least absorb the financial damage.”
Thanks to its cultivation in mini-tunnels, Knab was able to achieve good strawberry sales from mid-May to mid-July. In this regard, 80% of sales are direct and 20% are through marketing to fellow farmers. Strawberries are also sold in vending machines from the Rösler company.
For more information:
Thomas Knab
Obsthof Knab GmbH & Co.KG
Max-Bergmann-Strasse 22
85778 Haimhausen
Email: info@obsthof-knab.de
Web: https://www.obsthof-knab.de/
