Germany: 'Shallots and red onions have been growing for several years’

Until a few years ago, the German consumer resorted almost exclusively to yellow onions. Meanwhile, you can find more and more shallots, red onions and even mixed packs in the supermarket shelves. Nonetheless, the yellow onion continues to be at the top of the German food retailing market. That makes it difficult - for both producers and marketers - to differentiate.

The onion season is stable this year in terms of quantity, but sales barely cover the costs. The supply of stored goods is temporarily sufficient, at least as far as the normal onions up to caliber 70 is concerned. The oversized onions of caliber 70 mm are currently more expensive, notes Daniel Voll, managing director of Vau-Ge Voll GmbH in the Palatinate. 

The wholesale company mainly sells onions to packers, but also supplies onions to bulk consumers and the industry. “Since the availability of oversized onions is currently extremely low, prices are at a correspondingly higher level. The only ones who at the moment are happy about their onions are the Spanish growers with their larger products."


Onion pallets in the warehouse of Vau-Ge GmbH

Tough competition
According to the retailer, the German market is still well supplied with yellow onions up to caliber 70. However, these are also in greatest demand, even though the other varieties have been on sale for several years as well. Voll takes the shallots and red onions as an example. “Because of the many cookery programs on television, shallots and red onions are in greater demand because they are often shown there. The consumption is by no means comparable to that in France, but in the meantime one can find the shallots on the shelves of the German discounters as well. Previously, they were usually offered only at the full range. This also applies to white onions, which are a niche product that is almost exclusively bought by southerners. As for the rest, mixed packages with yellow, red and white onions are on offer.”