Van Meir Onions & Potatoes from Steenbergen (North Brabant) has completed the first of 3 onion pools for the 2017/2018 season. Pool A ran from week 42 to week 52. Especially participants with large onions were able to make a plus in price in the past period.
Director Leon van Meir has not yet received many reactions. The bill is just out the door. The Steenbergen company has split the pool price for their first pool period in two. "This is not new. It is a fixed rule with us," explains Van Meir. "If the price difference between coarse and fine is more than €1 per 100 kilos, we split the amounts. In this way, batches of fine onions do not lower the yield of the pool."
2 prizes
For fine onions, under 60 millimeters, Van Meir pays €6,67 per 100 kilos. The 60 millimeters upward comes in at €8,88. Given the market conditions, the company is satisfied with this. The price quoted is net and exclusive of Global Gap compensation. This amounts to €50 per hectare with a maximum of €300 per batch.
"Looking at the average stock exchange listing, the pool scores a plus. The difference between fine and coarse onions is relatively large. This is mainly due to the growing season. Due to the drought, the onions in the southwest remained relatively fine, so more of these parties were available," says Van Meir. In the same period, the average stock exchange quotation is € 6,92 per 100 kilos for the large onions.
Good quality
"We saw quite a few quality problems in the second-year onion sets. This was especially the case in the red onions. I attribute it to the combination of high temperatures followed by a lot of precipitation," explains Van Meir. sour onions, after a bacterial infection. We do not encounter this at all in the seed onions. The average tare percentage for Pool A is 8,5%. Given the problems with thrips, among other things, I am surprised by the good quality."
In contrast to the Northern Netherlands, the harvesting and loading in Van Meir's working area (the south) went relatively smoothly. There have been no major problems with wetness. It was tense for a while on delivery, but this did not lead to any problems. A lot of work has been done in a short period of time.
Belgian growers
Pool A also has Belgian participants from Flanders and Wallonia. "They grow on virgin soil, which means that the quality is noticeably better. In terms of transport, it makes no difference to us whether we load from growers in Belgium or in the Noordoostpolder. It is important that the right variety is chosen. Not every variety is suitable for being grown in Belgium. Due to the soil type, the onions grow explosively and on average they have less skin. You have to anticipate that. In Wallonia the onions are a bit later, while Flanders is early in terms of harvesting time."
Van Meir has grown with its pools across the board in the past year. The 3 polar periods together comprise 542 hectares of onions in the Netherlands and Belgium. The working area focuses on West Brabant and Zeeland. "In Belgium we are talking about a relatively small acreage. Compared to the Netherlands, the increase is not significant. Moreover, you can't just pick up onion cultivation. It requires a lot of knowledge and expertise. Good advice is essential. We try to support and advise where necessary. , together with a partner for the cultivation. You see companies that are doing well and companies that don't suit onions. They will stop by themselves."
Grower has price in his hands
Van Meir does not dare to make any firm statements about the further course of onion sales. "We saw a flood of onions at the beginning of January (in terms of trade and sales). February is a difficult month to trade, partly due to Carnival and the Grüne Woche. The current signals do not indicate that Brazil will purchase large volumes . The export is currently very broad. Many small ones also make 1 big one. I think we should have that.”
"Whether the onion market will remain stable after February or will collapse is partly up to the growers themselves. Are they going to give a massive supply, or will they remain confident in the market and take a wait and see approach. pool, but we try to work as efficiently as possible and fine-tune the pool to the market. You can also see that a pool structure can work well with other vegetable crops and offers stable prices, provided it is well geared to the market."