The lack of onions in Europe has created opportunities for many other countries who would love to fill that void. The same goes for one Turkish fresh fruit and vegetable exporter, who claims it has sent more onions towards Europe than he has in the past four to five years.
The Turkish onion season seems to be a great one so far. Naturally there is a lot more demand from Europe due to the disappointing yields and Eren Tarim has taken advantage of the situation, Coskun Eren, head of marketing at Eren Tarim, explains: “The onion season is going great at the moment. Prices are medium to low, we have good volumes available and we are at the peak in terms of quality in the season. Thankfully the weather was ideal this year. Onions don’t like very hot weather and rain, but we were blessed with good conditions and that’s why the quality is this good.”
Europe is trying to bring in as many onions as it can, with its own supply not being able to meet the demand. For an exporter like Eren Tarim, this brings lots of opportunities to do well: “This has been the biggest amount of onions we’ve exported to Europe in the last 4-5 years and we’re steadily increasing the volumes every day now. The shortage is a nice opportunity for us since the demand is there and Turkish onions are of great quality at the moment,” Eren explains. “I’m not just trying to promote the onions, the quality is really there. As an example; my Quality Control Team currently guarantees 30+ days travel time, so we even began offering the produce to overseas as of last week. Our main varieties are Ersoy and Aki, which are both yellow onion varieties.”
Another country trying to make the best out of the situation is Egypt, who are sending their red onions towards Europe in large quantities. Eren agrees they are a strong competitor, but their seasons do not coincide that much: “Egypt is always a threat for us in terms of the price. The onion they deliver is also slightly cheaper due to their transport being done by sea. When it comes to quality though, we are definitely on top. This usually puts us in a preferred position by the supermarkets, which is our main customer group. And it’s a good motto to live by; ‘Quality over Pricing.’ Besides our onion season doesn’t really coincide with Egypt that much, we only have two to three weeks of real competition throughout the year. Right now the Egyptian season is almost over so it is our time to shine.”
Although the season isn’t quite difficult, it doesn’t mean Eren Tarim does not have any challenges set out for itself. Getting the right clients is something to focus on, Eren feels. “It is onions after all, the durability is no issue and the labor isn’t as hard so the main challenge for us now is our lack of new customers. As Eren we rarely find ourselves in a position where the demand exceeds our production capabilities. Now we are searching for people who deal with large volumes of onions, so we can increase our exports while the time is right. We don’t sell any of our produce locally, so finding a few good partners would make the season even better.”
There has been a lot of talk regarding small sizes when it comes to onions, but the Turkish onions are available in all sizes: “The main size is about 50 to 90 mm. The sizes are stable around the medium size area, but we also have the Jumbo 90-130 mm and the small size 40-50mm onion available. Packaging varies between a 10 KG – 15 KG and 25 KG bags, either loose or packed inside wooden bins. I believe we will have the export window for another three weeks so we will try to make the best of it.”
For more information:
Coskun Eren
Eren Tarim
Phone: +90 324 454 1487-88
Mobile: +90 533 695 5802
Email: coskun@erentarim.com
www.erentarim.com