Daily Onions has started importing Egyptian onions again. “Because of the large Dutch supply, people are a bit reserved when sending onions. I therefore expect it will be a fairly short season,” says Adriaan van Belzen. Last week, he visited his suppliers in Egypt, and he was satisfied with the quality.
“Production went well in Egypt, it wasn’t too warm, and people are also growing more and more round, red onion varieties, which are preferred on the European market,” Adriaan continues. For that matter, the Egyptian onion exporters also have plenty of alternatives outside of Europe. “They send onions to anywhere between South Africa and the Middle East. They’ve also sent yellow and red onions to Spain this year. Last year, they exported to Russia, but they now don’t have that access anymore. Besides, the domestic market of 100 million people is also an important sales market.”
Adriaan sees the Dutch season petering out like a damp squib. “I blame people in media, who held out a carrot to the onion market. I think that’s bad conduct, particularly toward the growers. To achieve a structurally healthier onion market, I think the only solution is to grow less here. But if we have a few more years like this, we won’t even have to do anything for that.”