On June 26, the last of the bulbs for this year’s crop were pulled out of the ground in Pantiru the largest German garlic farm located in Lampertheim which is located situated in the southern part of Hesse. “We began on May 15 and ended a week later than the previous year” explains the managing director Konstanze Pantiru. She runs the farm alongside her husband Ciprian. “We had a great luck this year. This is because we didn’t have significant rainfall for our region for the entire three weeks during which we harvested our principal harvest, i.e. between 1 and 22 June. This meant that we did not suffer any major damages as well as harvest losses when we were required work extra in cleaning the fruit,” the producer couple speaks to the media on site.

The Pantirus have been completely committed to the cultivation and sale of their garlic grown at home since the year 2016. This was following the initial successful tests on their parent’s farm.

A high demand is the hallmark of the beginning of the season.

The business can also be proud of a positive launch of the season the area of marketing. “Demand is high and steady since the beginning of the harvest season which means there’s been an abundance of. The prices may increase slightly for the beginning of the season. However, there was a minor price cut recent. However we haven’t seen significant price changes like has been during other seasons,” says Mrs Pantiru.

This is Pantiru GbR production facility. It is the place where goods are cleansed, sorted before being packaged for sale. In peak periods it employs about 34 workers, the majority of which are portion of them are from Ciprian Pantiru’s hometown region in north-east Romania.

Garlic cultivation spread across nearly 50 acres

Following their initial venture at their parent’s farm, the entrepreneur couple created Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen GbR in 2016. The couple is now committed to growing a diverse variety of varieties of garlic on around 48 acres. “The period for marketing fresh garlic is usually extended through the month of August. Our dried garlic is usually advertised between June to January. We are also a representative of the Planasa firm in Germany and sell exclusively all four Spanish garlic varieties Gardos, Gardacho, Garcua and Garpek in the German market. Garlic cultivation is a popular choice and the demand remains. Farmers are typically innovative seeking more value-added products.” Pantiru’s latest product branch is the cultivation of sweet potatoes which began in 2018. Starting starting with 0.5 ha, the cultivating capacity has been increased up to 6 hectares. Sweet potatoes are harvested from the month of September to the end of September.

Left: unsorted items in temporary storage. Right: Marketable, fresh garlic

Fresh vs. dried garlic

Marketing of fresh garlic is thought to be a as a summer-time business, and it ends in the month of August. “We can extend the time for marketing, however it would require enormous storage expenses. Additionally, we are busy with our the dried garlic as well as our sweet potatoes, as well as garlic seedlings that are sprouting in the autumn,” explains Konstanze Pantiru. In comparison to dried garlic it is the fresh product that is the more lucrative. “After all, don’t ignore that about 40% of the products are wasted with dried garlic. Additionally, we could gain points for the quality and freshness of our products, particularly when it comes to dried products. We also have our products available at wholesale markets of Cologne as well as Munich. We concentrate on the summer months and fall seasons, whereas the Netherlands supply to the German marketplace with a wide range of fresh products during winter and autumn. We do not get in each others manner and both nations that are the origin of our respective countries still have the same purpose.”

Despite the weather being wet and the size of the trees are identical to the size of the previous year.

More details:

Konstanze Pantiru

Pantiru Knoblauchkulturen GbR & Saatguthandel

In den Garten 5

68623 Lampertheim

Tel: +49 (0)6206 1556140

Konstanze Pantiru: 0174 4678858

E-Mail: [email protected]

www.pantiru-knoblauchkulturen.de