There is no lack of demand for onions, according to Dignus Boone of Bowa, a sorting and packing company in the Netherlands. "There's another ship leaving for Africa at the end of next week, with countries like Gambia and Guinea participating well. Only Ivory Coast is slightly oversupplied," he said in early September.
The often-heard argument that the Netherlands priced itself out of the market after two expensive years is nonsense, says Dignus. "Onions are currently going to numerous destinations such as Central America, Malaysia, Israel, the Philippines, and Singapore. We were too pricey in recent years, but if your onions are interesting, price-wise, you simply join the fray again."
In early September, bale prices for medium, large, and super sizes were €0.19, €0.20, and €0.22, respectively. Red onions are priced much higher at €0.35 for medium and €0.50 for large ones. Those prices have normalized, something Dignus does not consider a negative. "We're used to paying growers within three weeks. If you then have to wait eight weeks for your money, plenty was owed last year. So, we like it that prices are stabilizing. It was getting a bit too much for us," he says.
Dignus is cautious about predicting for the season. "There are plenty of onions. We buy in only what we need for the next week. The onion sets are slightly in the way at present, which also depresses the price. We've already switched completely to sowing onions. That's different from the past when we were often still busy with onion sets at the end of October," he explains. "But, we think their quality has deteriorated in recent years. Now we're one of the first to switch to sowing onions."
"I have no issues with the onions' quality, barring a lost block. In any case, the kilos are pretty good. Locally, there are blocks of 50 tons per hectare, which we haven't seen much of in recent years. Some growers got nothing, especially last year." Bowa will continue exploring optical grading this season. "We believe in the technology, but we haven't exactly figured it out for ourselves," Dignus concludes.
Jan Boone
Bowa
Tel 0113 - 503 000
[email protected]
www.bowabv.nl