"We look back on a great first half and a difficult second half of the onion season. It's like football, as long as you win the game," laughs Wim Waterman of Waterman Onions. The onion packer/exporter from Emmeloord traditionally - unlike many Zeeland colleagues - continues with the old onions until there are enough new ones. "Some years we feed the old and new onions side by side, but this year we will have a seamless transition because we are more likely to leave the lower-quality onions. Other years, we sometimes continue with old onions until August, but that will not be an issue this year."
Wim and Erik Waterman at this year's Fruit Logistica.
"It was another onion season with all well-known elements included. Large and small volumes, good and bad quality, and a great diversity of destinations. The last few months were quite sad for the onion trade, at the same time the red onion season went fine," Wim observes. "Whereas last year onions remained at a high level until the end, there was none of that now. Just goes to show that you can't build on past results. Every season has its own unique characteristics. We now see demand from Europe decreasing, on the other hand, our onions are more in demand again in the overseas territories. They can now choose from old and new onions."
That due to high onion prices customers have found new alternatives in other countries, Wim does not see this as a threat. "We lost those markets because, for example, a country like China offered onions cheaper, but now that we are cheaper than the Chinese, you have those markets back in no time. It is not our goal to be the cheapest, but among onion customers there are just a lot of price buyers and they switch easily. The harvests in the Southern Hemisphere are now behind us, so we have lost some markets in recent weeks. The price range of old onions is now very wide, depending mainly on coarseness and destination. Middle sorting has to find its way to Africa in particular. Sales of the coarse onions are still running fine in Europe."
Looking ahead to the new season is still early. "After all, we are only in June. But what I have seen of onion sets I do not find disappointing. However, it always remains to be seen what the quality looks like after drying, but it is still too early to say anything about that."
For more information:
Wim Waterman
Waterman Onions
Hannie Schaftweg 12
8304 AR Emmeloord
+31 (0)527 617 496
[email protected]
www.waterman-onions.nl