Soon there will once again be new shallots in the shelves of the supermarket, as the harvest is now in full swing. Yields are still hard to estimate, but seem to be slightly under the multiple year average. As far as quality is concerned, the product looks fine. This year´s harvest is around the same as the normal harvest time for shallots. It is normal to harvest around mid August.
Prospects for the new season
Prospects for the new season are still difficult to estimate. Unlike onions, consumption shallots only go to Russia on a small scale. According to KCB figures even less than 0.5%. France, which with over 2200 ha of shallots is significantly bigger than the Dutch production of around 350 ha, is more important to the market. Of this 350 ha over 80% has to be exported. Luckily, the domestic consumption of shallots is still growing, which means the shallot is available all year round in more and more Dutch supermarkets.
Dutch cultivation
The professional cultivation in the Netherlands takes place among a limited amount of specialised growers who often have years of experience with the specific cultivation of seeding shallots. As it is a specialist product, the quality demands are at a high level and this means that there is only space for 1st class products. This is why during the harvest it isn't the last kilos that are essential, it's a shallot with a good colour. This results in a relatively green harvest by onion standards. Due to the early harvest the storage is mainly through the 30 degrees regime. This prevents possible root rot fungus spores from developing during storage. This is why seeding shallots have had no notable problems with this storage disease in recent years.
Source: Sjalot.nl