"Expansion in red onions seems like too much of a good thing"

The Dutch onion season isn't ending the way most had hoped, to say the least. "It's still going, but there is nothing spectacular happening," says Eric Moerdijk of sorting and packaging station Monie from Nieudorp. "Over the coming week a boat to Africa should provide some extra sales, but the price level is very low for both grower and processor. The bale price is around 4.5 cents for the middle sorting and 5-6 cents for the coarse onions and sometimes more can be made on specific markets."

"The net kilos have been okay this year. Honestly I think that the market remained at a high price level for quite a long time, up to and including November. Then the market collapsed, and remained bad aside from an occasional exception due to unexpected demand from Brazil," says the packager. "I expect there to be a considerable oversupply. In recent weeks there have been parties unsuitable for export that were sent to Poland and due to the high temperatures storing them isn't getting any easier, but I expect to keep enough onions. Based on the CBS figures there would have to a weekly export of 16,000 tonnes otherwise and you can't make figures like that at the end of the season."

Eric can explain why there'll be another small expansion of the area over the coming year. "The growers don't have an alternative. There is mainly expansion in the new cultivation areas in the east of the Netherlands, where a lot is grown off land. Those growers made a good salary, which means they don't want to shrink. I am concerned about the large expansions in red onions, some are saying 10-15%. Red onions are a smaller market with more set agreements between growers and processors and often more difficult to grow. The sales of red onions went well in the last year with a stable price level, but this expansion seems like too much of a good thing."

For more information:
Monie Nieuwdorp
Hertenweg 61
4455TK Nieuwdorp
Tel: 0031 (0) 113-612845
eric@monie.nl
www.monie.nl