The Egyptian onion season is about a month away at Freeland in Emmen. "Demand for early Egyptian onions was good. Both organic and conventional onions sold for good prices," says Jordi van den Bosch. "At the same time, the phone wasn't ringing off the hook right away either. For example, German customers still had Dutch and German stocks available for a relatively long time."
"You also see more and more fresh produce importers trying their hand at Egyptian onions. This year again, quite a few occasional importers have stepped in. That doesn't stop us, but you do see a clear difference in quality between onions imported and resold directly from Egypt and those that are re-sorted and repackaged here. That difference is reflected in the price."
For Freeland, Egyptian onions have been an important product for years. "We work with suppliers who understand our specifications. Over the years, we've reduced the number of suppliers, but we now receive larger volumes from them," says Jordi. He observes a trend of increasing professionalism among Egyptian growers. "This includes using more and more Dutch onion seed. We also maintain close contact with the Dutch embassy in Egypt to explore ways to further improve onion exports."
"Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, most onion packers have already stopped, and there's a gap of a few weeks until the first new winter onion sets and seed onions return to the market. Dutch and German red onions have already disappeared from the market for some time, so those sales are continuing well for now, though we may see another dip once Dutch onions return to the market in mid-July."
It's a time of transition for the Emmen-based trading company, as the Dutch outdoor vegetable season has also kicked off. "The iceberg lettuce is looking great, but unfortunately, we're not seeing strong prices yet. The Netherlands started early, and Spain continued longer, so there's a lot of supply on the market at the same time. We've also started with the first Dutch broccoli and summer cauliflower, but those sales aren't booming either. Hopefully, demand will pick up soon. We'll also begin with the first summer leeks shortly."
For more information:
Jordi van den Bosch
Freeland / / Freeland Organics
Nijbracht 126
7821 CE Emmen
Tel: +31 591 670570
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.free land.nl
www.freelandorganics.nl