"Room for Egyptian organic onions"

The onion import season has begun anew at Freeland. This trading company is based in the Dutch town of Emmen. They received a shipment of white Indian onions last week. The Egyptian onion season started two weeks ago already. This is for conventional as well as organic onions. The first arrivals of red onions are planned for next week. Again, for both the organic and conventional varieties.

"We are running out of Dutch organic onions. There is, therefore, room in the market for the Egyptian onions. The cultivation in Egypt went well. These onions are traditionally somewhat flatter than Dutch onions. However, they are much cleaner as they do not lie in the mud", says Kees van den Bosch, Freeland's Director. "May and June are real organic months. The demand for the conventional and red onions from Egypt usually begins later. This is once the Dutch onions are finished. So, there is no competition from the conventional onions."

Not all the onions brought in by Freeland are part of programmes. "According to some of my colleagues, this is the only way to do things", says Kees. "We are, however, seeing that many buyers are playing their cards close to their chests. So, we often buy on instinct. Sometimes you miss, and at other times it is a hit. Fortunately, we have a fair number of permanent customers."

Many Egyptian onions end up in Scandinavian or German supermarkets. "Unfortunately, Egyptian organic onions are last on German buyers' lists. In the past, there were many instances of the wrong certification. This, sadly, tarnished certain Egyptian suppliers' names. It has led to mistrust with regard to the Egyptian product. It is a pity. All the residual analyses that were done showed that we have a clean organic product", he concludes.