Of course, we must wait for the end of the campaign to make an assessment, but it looks like this year has made both traders and producers happy.
"It has been an excellent year for white onions because there is little produce available and quality is not very good," explains Matteo Freddi (in the photo), onion producer. This in turn means that prices for good-quality onions are high - we are talking about 70/75 cents per kg. Spain is even selling produce that is usually considered waste, while the prices of Australian onions arriving through the Netherlands hover around €1/kg.For what concerns golden onions, "prices started high at the beginning of the campaign but then stabilised in November and December. Prices are high, but there is a lot of produce in Northern Europe. If there wasn't an embargo in place in Russia, prices would have sky-rocketed."
Freddi is known mostly for Borettana onions. "Sales will continue until mid-April and the "no-defect" project has been a success - we managed to have less waste and prices are better. Dried Borettana onion quotations are €1-1.10/kg, while those destined for peeling reach 75-85 cents per kg. We had not seen these prices for years."
The only competition for this variety comes from the smaller grades of white onions from Naples, "as the campaign started 3 weeks early due to the warm temperatures. The product must be sold quickly but, if bigger grades have interesting prices, the smaller ones do not and are offered to peelers. However, as this product is only required when there are no alternatives, many are underselling."
Borettana onions produced and sold by Freddi.
Even though it is the end of the season, this is also the period when the foundations are laid for the next season. "We fear next year will be a disaster as many producers who used to cultivate cereal and industry tomatoes - which this year did not do so well - are now planting onions."
For what concerns sowing, it is still early to talk about delays, but "as January was quite dry, many have tried sowing in the Piacenza area but the rain of the past few days caused problems. It is dangerous to sow in advance, and the risk is only worth it for onions whose seeds are cheap. Those who are more experienced and cautious are waiting for the bad weather to stabilise."
Contacts:
Matteo Freddi
Freddi Prodotti Ortofrutticoli
Via Lama, 41
Calerno di S. Ilario d'Enza (RE)
Tel.: (+39) 0522 679831
Fax: (+39) 0522 679854
Cell.: (+39) 335 7103937
Email: [email protected]
Author: Andrea Minghelli
Copyright: www.freshplaza.it
Contacts:Matteo Freddi
Freddi Prodotti Ortofrutticoli
Via Lama, 41
Calerno di S. Ilario d'Enza (RE)
Tel.: (+39) 0522 679831
Fax: (+39) 0522 679854
Cell.: (+39) 335 7103937
Email: [email protected]
Author: Andrea Minghelli
Copyright: www.freshplaza.it
