News Onion Analysis 2019
'Consumers pay more for healthy onion'
Brothers Steven and David Gill run a processing plant on California's south coast (between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles). More than 30 years ago they entered the 'convenience market' and started peeling, peeling, cutting and shredding onions. They now control 20% of the American market. The focus: 'A healthy soil produces a healthy onion'.
Last summer Hazera organized the eighth international onion tour, during which partners in the onion chain visit important onion regions of the world. This year they visited the Dutch industry. Ben de Nijs, the regional product manager for onions at Hazera, came over from America with various growers and processors.
What does your company, Gills Onions, look like in terms of structure?
"We are a family business that was founded in 1983, but my brother and I were already growing onions before that time. We were approached by a manufacturer to supply sliced product and so we started our own processing. Today we bring the cultivation (for risk spread) among several growers in California. A small part of our onions is sold fresh, but the majority of it we peel and cut into cubes, strips or rings. This is sold to the food industry and retail. The current generation demands sliced product That is why we started early. We are said to control 20% of this segment in the United States. 350 to 400 loads leave the factory in Oxnard per day. The production amounts to more than 80.000 tons annually. The residual flows are fermented to to generate green electricity. The washing water is also 100% recycled."
Does Californian onion cultivation differ much from that in the Netherlands?
"Every year we have about 800 hectares under contract. The growing area extends from the Imperial Valley in the south to Bakersfield and to Salinas in Central California. The harvest takes place between the end of April and the end of October. The day lengths in our Growing areas vary. Also, don't discount the effect of the difference in height (150 meters), because this certainly affects the day length and the type of onion. We are in the desert, which means that everything is irrigated with surface or spring water."
"The farmer supplies the soil and takes care of the crop according to our requirements. We are strict about this. We determine the fertilization strategy and the use of crop protection products. The soil varies from sand to heavy loam, on which grain, alfalfa, lettuce and carrots are also grown. The cultivation system consists of 2 meter beds, on which we sow 4 rows. We sow only 400.000 seeds per hectare, in order to obtain a coarse product. With finer onions, the processing capacity is too low. The yield is stable at 90 to 110 tons per hectare. In addition, contract growers are paid per acre in bags and therefore no hectare price."
Can you tell us a little more about why you are so critical of cultivation?
"We have found that healthy cultivation has a lot to do with the end product. 'Farm the soil, not the crop', that is our philosophy. This means: nourishes the soil and keeps it in top condition. The use of chemical crop protection creates only new problems, which puts you in a vicious circle. By being conservative in the use of substances, the shelf life of the onions has increased from 10 to 18 days. We believe that the chemistry has an effect on the human digestive system, allowing humans can absorb vitamins less easily. Ultimately, we are convinced that consumers will pay more for a healthier product. The farmer also benefits from this. By working on the health of the soil, we have reduced the use of nitrogen by 50% reduced. That's a direct profit."
Do all your products stay in the United States or are they also exported?
"Our onions stay domestic, which is partly due to the transport costs. We cannot compete with your prices. Shipping a container to Central America or South America can easily cost us $1.000 to $3.000, but sometimes the market demands For example, despite the price level, Panama is buying more product at the expense of onions from the Netherlands. Trade is also being done with Mexico. We see that cultivation in the United States is slowly shifting to the north, so that Mexico, for example, has fresh onions export to Texas. They will be able to supply onions from the new crop from March, while the harvest in the United States will start 1 month later."
How do you see the future of your company and onion cultivation?
"Since it is very dry here, we have relatively little to do with fusarium and 'pink root'. After harvesting, our onions are in the swath for a maximum of 1 day. It is important to focus on a wide crop rotation. The market for 'convenience food' is still growing, which means there are still opportunities for us. We would like to distinguish ourselves in quality. By applying as little chemical crop protection as possible, we see an improvement in soil quality within 1 to 4 years. are administered by means of drip irrigation. The availability of personnel is an issue, which means that we are increasingly peeling by machine."
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Niels van der Boom
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