Inside: Onion Market
Supers later on on New Zealand onions
Supermarkets will switch to imported onions from New Zealand later this year than in previous years. This has everything to do with the large harvest and the good quality of the Dutch onions.
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Choose the subscription that suits youFrom 2013, between 70.000 and 77.000 tons of onions from New Zealand come to Europe every year. The amount received this year up to and including week 19 is far below that at 64.530 tons. Of course we still have some weeks to go, but the import period will be shortened because supermarkets will later switch to the new import harvest.
Transition later
"Normally, supermarkets switch over in mid-April/early May and the import of New Zealand onions continues until the new Dutch harvest arrives in July," explains Jaap de Ruijg, who purchases and sells onions for a trading company. Van der Lans International BV. 'This year the transition is later. Most supermarkets still have to change. That will happen in the next 2 weeks.'
The reason for the late switch is the large and good European harvest. 'The harvest here was good and the demand for European onions is small. In addition, demand from Africa decreased rather. If you then get onions from New Zealand, you will oversupply the market here. Then you shouldn't have it. Of course, supermarkets will change at some point, but the quality of European onions is good. Unlike last year; back then the quality was much lower and it was already warmer at the beginning of May, so the switch was made in time.'
De Ruijg suspects that smaller sales in Europe are not immediately a problem for the New Zealand onion sector. 'The demand from Asia is growing. A lot of New Zealand onions go to Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan and the Pacific Islands.'
Germany already said it this fall
For Eric Moerdijk van Monie Nieuwdorp BV it's no surprise. 'Last autumn, Germany indicated that it would continue with its own and Dutch product for longer. In terms of quality and price level, German and Dutch onions do just as well and are even cheaper. Furthermore, I think that supermarkets view imports from far away differently. Why would you get a product from the other side of the world, while it is also available in your own country or in a neighboring country? This idea has been around for some time in Germany, but in the Netherlands supermarkets are also moving in that direction.'