Early Spanish onions have promising prospects in Europe

The cold chambers of Spanish producers and exporters are practically empty and Spring onions are starting to be marketed in small quantities nationwide at very reasonable prices for the large calibres, although slightly lower than those of storage onions.

In Spain, supermarkets and wholesale markets are expected to have onions on their shelves next week.

The campaign is starting around 7 days earlier than last year and with somewhat higher volumes, given that producers were encouraged to plant more onions after the good results achieved in the previous season.

According to Alfonso Tarazona, president of the Spanish Association of Growers and Exporters of Onions (ACEC), "the quality of the new onion is very good and calibres will be better than last year, when there was a notable lack of large calibres."

Although Spain has a small stock of onions, in the rest of Europe there is more availability, and there is also competition from other origins, "although the markets are eager to consume Spanish onions," affirms the representative. Spanish Spring onions are expected to reach the export markets in mid-May.

The Medio Grano onion harvest will start in early June and the Grano harvest will then follow in August.

During the past two seasons, the sale of Spring onions has increased significantly in markets such as Germany and the UK, where up to this point Chilean onions have held a dominant position.

Alfonso Tarazona believes that Spanish Spring onions, which stopped being exported a while ago, have a very promising future for this campaign and the following. "Importers are again putting their trust on Spanish early onions, as the transport costs make Chilean or New Zealand onions much more expensive."

However, early onions are much more delicate than the average Medio Grano or Grano, as they have a much thinner skin. For this reason, Alfonso Tarazona warns that "it is important for exporters to become aware of the importance of waiting for the skin to reach the right colour before shipping the product to its destination. It is worth recalling that it stopped being imported in Europe a few years ago because we made the mistake of shipping it too early, which caused numerous quality problems at destination."