European onions are becoming an increasingly major competitor for the imported onions from countries like New Zealand. According to Gerard Hoekman of Mulder Onions, the trade in imported onions has changed in recent years. “From New Zealand, more and more produce goes directly to the supermarkets. In my opinion, New Zealand structurally grows too many onions, especially in years with large harvests in Europe. At some point they will have to make choices in that area, because by cultivating without limit, they’re shooting themselves in the foot. In addition to Asia and the ‘big boys’ in Europe, they have no back door, and they’re not obviating this problem by selling directly to supermarkets.”
The low prices of the old harvest, according to sales manager René Tiggelman of trading company Van Langevelde from Kruiningen, hardly influenced the switch to imported onions. “That has more to do with the quality than with the price of the product. Usually, supermarkets switch to the imported onions around the same time of year.” An important difference with a couple of years ago is that the number Dutch players on the market for imported onions has decreased drastically. “In the past, quite a few onions were sent on commission. A large supermarket chain like Aldi Nord, however, has been making seasonal agreements for a number of years now, while it used to be that every packager could offer them. So in the past, you saw a lot more ‘fruit growers’ operating in this market. Personally, I think it’s a good development that there is less room for non-specialized middlemen. As a result, you see the amount in storage has significantly decreased compared to a few years ago,” René concludes.
“As an importer, you have to have set sales programmes, and you can’t import at a venture anymore,” Jan van der Lans of Van der Lans International confirms. “The export figures from New Zealand show the same trend as last year. The United Kingdom is buying a lot fewer onions though. We offer the red New Zealand onions between April and mid-June. Then you really have to be off the market, because that’s when the Egyptian red onions come to the market and the price plummets,” Jan says. “The white onions are mainly sold to true specialists in France, Spain, Germany and Italy. They are hardly on offer in the Netherlands, and have become almost exotic. Those onions have to be 100% white too. If there’s a mark on them, you have a problem.”
The first early onions in New Zealand had a good yield and quality, and could even be shipped in ‘open door containers’. The later harvest yielded very large sizes. Due to the rain that fell a few weeks ago, the quality wasn’t suitable for export to Europe anymore,” says Danny Deen of Denimpex. “I expect the prices for the New Zealand onions to remain stable. Everything that comes in, is sold immediately. At the end of week 17 or week 18, the large supermarkets are also expected to switch to imported onions.”
The importer estimates the market for overseas onions in the EU countries, including England, at 75/85,000 MT. “Now the expectation is that supplies from New Zealand will be drastically lower than everyone expects. Every importer has the amount agreed upon before the heavy waterlogging a few weeks ago, cut significantly. When the temperature in Europe will go up shortly, and the EU supplies display even more wear than is happening already, it will be no easy task to have enough overseas onions available.”