Sudden price hike onion market

The onion market is seeing a lot of movement at the moment. Currently, batches are bought from the grower at between 15 to 20 cents on the long term, and the bale price is also moving along nicely. "Nobody had expected this," says Chayenne Wiskerke of Wiskerke Onions. She says the price increase is mainly caused by high demand from Brazil, Europe, and increasingly Africa. "And yet more produce is gone than thought. That can cause the price to suddenly go up sharply."

"Brazil is the frontrunner at the moment. The country is facing the biggest drought in eighty years, and there is very little local produce available," says the exporter, who recently visited the country and saw the shortage with her own eyes. "Normally, Argentina takes over that market, but due to quality problems, that country hardly supplies to Brazil, so they depend on us. We're able to ask good prices from Brazil, and the currency is also to our advantage. We're expecting good demand from Brazil until mid-May at least. The country is asking for large calibres, so we're still barely able to meet demand. That literally keeps the country hungry, which means we can ask for a good price now."

"And Brazil is taking on other markets. Eastern Europe and England are seeing higher demand, and Africa has started again. Where we were previously working at cost price, we're now suddenly going up to a different price level," Chayenne goes on to say. "But the Dutch mentality is that this increases with cents at a time. In a country like Spain, the price immediately goes up by 50-70%, but we're not used to that here."

While the growers already were persistent, they're possibly even more so now. "Competition among purchasers is fierce, with everyone who's buying onions in the Netherlands looking for the best batches. Of course this leads to exorbitant prices sometimes. Onions are bought at 17 cents, making it quite a task to achieve a profit in sales. The good thing is that the onions are arriving in perfect condition at their destination this year, making it possible for us to ask a good price. This year we can really show what we're worth," Chayenne concludes.

For more information:
Chayenne Wiskerke
Wiskerke Onions
Tel: +31(0)113 382210
Chayenne@wiskerke-onions.nl
www.wiskerke-onions.nl