Chayenne Wiskerke, from Dutch onion producer Wiskerke gives her view of the new onion season:
The start of the season was so-so. This was partly caused by the amount of old onions, which was too high, and weren't sold in time. At the end of the season there was a continuous search for a final peak. The still high supply from the grower and the strong positions of the sorting companies at the end of the season, hampered a swift start for the onion sets.
Now, the market has regained its balance. It can be said that there are big opportunities for the Netherlands at the moment. Not a single country has a large volume of newly harvested onions available at the moment. Due to the great climatological variability, big countries even have short supply. The article says Brazil will only start importing in December again, but at the moment, demand from Brazil is so high that we, in the Netherlands, can't fulfil their demand. In fact, the surrounding countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay) have, like Brazil, suffered from extreme weather conditions. The local, unstructured cultivation, isn't able to cover the national consumption volume for now. This strong demand from South America is higher than we normally see. There is talk of a phenomenon that happens once every few years, a structural global imbalance. This demand won't disappear for us tomorrow all of a sudden. Together with my father, I am responsible for all our sales. Together, we sell a significant volume, and have direct contact with our buyers in over 90 countries. The worldwide demand we're seeing now, is very high, and we're not able to meet it currently.
As far as I know, this is a time in which we, as agricultural Netherlands, can seize our opportunity. The past years have been disappointing: cash flows are low, investments are at a standstill, and the evolution with the growers has seen better times. As an export country, we have a unique position. Our high-quality product, available volume and ready accessibility to the customer means we can sell our onions anywhere in the world. Countries that are without produce for only a short, defined period, can soon be contacted by us to respond to the shortage. India is a good example of this. This is a big country, with multiple harvests per year. Still, for the second year in a row, there are short 4-6 week periods in which the country suffers shortages. Our export trade can conveniently respond to this as well. Selling onions fast is what we specialize in.
Then Africa. This is a part of the world with huge potential for own cultivation. And although it develops fast, the population growth and purchasing power grows many times faster, so the continent remains dependent on import. An important factor here is water. This is the bottleneck for Africa. Governments and global organization are focusing on cultivations that are low in water use, the so-called 'Water Footprint of Food'. Arguments for this are climate change, the increasing population and the rising water use per capita, mainly due to the trend of urbanization. Onion cultivation takes up a relatively high amount of water, so for the coastal countries, it's more economically attractive to import onions instead of growing them. Mauritania is one of these countries. In the new season, it has bought 720 tonnes of onions already. Normally, this is an area that accounts for over 5% (2014 season: 45,000 tonnes) of our export. It is said that this region isn't buying anything at the moment, but that's not the case. We have just got off the plane, and the first arrivals of the new onions are positive, so Mauritania will still account for our Dutch export again this season.
In short, this is a year with opportunities. It is our responsibility to make optimum use of these. Competing countries like Spain, but also Morocco or China, are gaining on us. Their technological development, product quality and infrastructure are rapidly improving, but logistically and climatologically, these countries are still quite far behind the Netherlands. Of course, we also have our problems: lack of space and soil quality play a big part. But with smart agricultural management by the grower, together with the right assistance from the buyer, the opportunities for the agricultural and onion-growing Netherlands are within reach this year.
For more information:
Chayenne Wiskerke
Wiskerke Onions
Tel: +31(0)113 382210
Chayenne@wiskerke-onions.nl
www.wiskerke-onions.nl