Export area explained
Onion export to Germany shows declining trend
Every week we look at an important country in the onion sector. This week: Germany. Demand from the country is slowly picking up again, but in the longer term a downward trend has been visible over the past few years. What is the cause of this?
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Choose the subscription that suits youMost German growers arrange their own sales through large cooperatives. When these cooperatives become empty at the end of the season, there will be more demand for Dutch onions. Last season, only Great Britain and Belgium purchased more Dutch onions (within Europe). Globally, Germany was in eighth place last year in the list of largest buyers of Dutch onions (25.594 tons).
This season, Germany purchased 8 tons of onions (up to and including week 9.724), almost 14% less than last season in the same period. A downward trend has been visible in recent years. The reason for this is that German supermarkets are imposing increasingly strict requirements and the need for regional products is increasing.
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Exports to Germany have mainly shown a decline since 2008.
Role of the supermarkets
The supermarket chains in Germany have a lot of power. They place high demands on the quality of onions, especially in the field of residues. In these requirements, the supermarkets state that onions may only contain 5 milligrams of MH. This is one third of the European standard.
The onions that go to the German supermarket chains must therefore not contain too much MH. German growers therefore use less or no MH at all. The problem is that many German growers have used too much MH, or there are problems with bolting in a batch.
This offers opportunities for Dutch trade. Naturally, the same requirements apply to onions that come from the Netherlands. However, if there are Dutch parties that are at the top of the market and meet the requirements, then there is certainly a market for them in Germany.
Local product
Just like in the carrot trade, Germany wants to switch to local products. The government is encouraging people to purchase onions from local growers. There has therefore been a decline in onion purchases in recent years. The increasingly strict requirements, which many Dutch growers are not prepared to meet, also play a role.
Exports indicate that demand from Germany has been cautiously increasing in recent weeks. This way, good onions disappear easily. However, the German market is sharp and the bar is high.
Germany has 83 million inhabitants and is 8,6 times the size of the Netherlands (357.376 km2).