The current spring onion harvest began at the end of July in both Germany and Poland and is progressing as expected. "The harvest quantities and qualities so far are quite satisfactory. Although there are individual plots with increased disease pressure, everything is still in the green zone," reports Heinz Düpmann, vegetable processor and managing director of the company of the same name in Borgholzhausen. Meanwhile, the market price for onions is trending slightly downwards.
Heinz Düpmann with his two sons and his wife Sylvia.
"However, we are particularly concerned about the seed onions, which are harvested and stored from September onwards. Although more has been grown, the farmers are struggling with disease pressure and quality problems. The weather conditions in the next three to four weeks up to the start of harvest will be decisive here. Temperatures of around 25 degrees and sporadic rainfall would be ideal. If we are spared extremes, I don't think there will be any more problem batches like last year," continues Düpmann.
Some of Düpmann's products: the company offers customised packaging solutions for the industry, from inlay and thermoformed bags to reusable containers and paloxes.
As far as the supply of raw materials is concerned, there has been a seamless transition from old onions to new onions. Overseas onions from Chile or Argentina are now only used occasionally, while New Zealand onions are particularly suitable for the packaging sector and food retail. Düpmann: "We only see a certain amount of volume pressure with Spanish onions, which are mainly used in processing. However, we ourselves mainly rely on German and Polish raw materials, only occasionally buying in additional Spanish onions."
The G-müsegriller is already listed in many food retail outlets and regular tastings are organised in the markets.
Utilisation of vegetable cuttings
Düpmann primarily supplies the industry with peeled onions and other vegetable products, such as peppers, cucumbers and courgettes. Onions account for around 60 per cent of total sales. In addition to the tried and tested classics in various forms, the company is also dedicated to new products. "New since this year is our vegetarian range, such as vegetable-based sausages, which are already listed in the test phase at larger food retail chains. Under the motto 'G-MÜSE NEU G-DACHT', we deliberately looked for a way to process our vegetable offcuts, which are created during the production of other products, and so after many trials, a vegetable mass was produced from these offcuts, among other things, which were then processed by a company in the neighbouring town into G-MÜSE Grillers, among other things. We already had a good quota with the further processing of these cuttings so that they do not end up as waste. However, thanks to the vegetable masses, we can now also utilise other types of offcuts accordingly. By further processing the offcuts and producing the finished products in the neighbouring village, we are also able to meet the trend towards greater sustainability. We want to continue along this path and there are already some ideas and approaches for further product innovations."
Marc Wittenbrock from Hof Wittenbrock in Halle-Hesseln is a long-standing onion supplier to Düpmann and now also uses AI technologies to grow virtually residue-free produce. "The ARA from Ecorobotiks can recognise and distinguish plants.
Pictures: Düpmann GmbH & Co. KG
For more information:
Heinz Düpmann
Düpmann GmbH & Co. KG
Am Teuto 18
33829 Borgholzhausen
Telephone: +49 54 25 / 9 32 46 21 00
Fax: +49 54 25 / 9 32 46 21 40
Email: [email protected]
www.duepmann.de
www.hof-wittenbrock.de