The Roscoff Onion Festival on August 24th marked the start of the onion season for Prince de Bretagne. Product manager Pierre Gélébart talks about the start of the PDO and pink onion campaigns.
Bulk pink onions from Brittany / © Prince de Bretagne
Greater surface area and yields
Although the campaign started at the end of July, the larger volumes only arrived this week." This year looks promising for onions from Brittany. "We are confident that both quality and volumes are good." For both pink and Roscoff onions, surface areas and yields have increased this year, (+20%), explains Pierre Gélébart, "but it is still too early to be certain."
Diversification and mechanized production
The surface area for pink onions has increased thanks to mechanized production, which is becoming popular with young growers. "Most shallot producers also grow pink onions. Given the arduous nature of (manual) shallot production and the difficulties related to staff recruitment and management, some growers have decided to reduce their surface area in favor of onions. For the Roscoff PDO onions, the increase in acreage is due to seasonality. "The PDO means that growers can work throughout the winter. Some cauliflower producers, for example, have chosen to diversify with PDO Roscoff onions so that their teams can harvest cauliflower in the morning and onions in the afternoon.
Roscoff onions are harvested before they are fully ripe, so they can be stored longer. As Pierre Gélébart points out, "no anti germination treatment is authorized for PDO production" / Braided Roscoff PDO onion © Œil de Paco
Good prospects for marketing too
"The market for pink onions is good at the start of the season. Marketing prospects also look promising for the next few weeks, but we will have to wait until the yellow onions arrive on the market to see the 'real prices'. For the moment, the main yellow onion production areas are in full harvest. The production in the Netherlands "could also change the whole course of the season."
Brittany shallots exported to the north
Another Prince de Bretagne condiment on the rise is the échalion. "It is a product that is gradually developing here. Volumes are still low, below 1,000 tons, but they increase slightly each year." Production is mainly destined for export, particularly to Northern European countries, which are particularly fond of this small, elongated onion.
For more information:
Pierre Gélébart
Prince de Bretagne
Phone: +33 2 98 69 38 71
[email protected]
www.princedebretagne.com/fr