There are serious doubts about the figures for the onion area red compared to yellow at CBS. The red area appears considerably smaller than previously expected due to these figures and can hardly be right. Especially when we look at the amount of seed that has been sold.
Two weeks ago, the provisional acreage figures for 2022 were announced by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This clearly showed what the onion sector had expected: a sharp decrease in the area of sowing onions, by a total of 9,3%. The area decreased from 30.126 to 27.317 hectares. Previously, no distinction was made between red and yellow seed onions in these figures, until this year. A week after announcing the provisional area figures, CBS published additional figures in early July, in which the area of seed onions was divided between yellow and red. This year yellow stands at 22.460 and red at 4.857 hectares. There are also 5.802 hectares of second-year seed and onion onions. But there are serious doubts about these figures.
"Red market share greater than 100%"
There was no doubt in the market that the area of sowing onions would decrease after the record area last season. The area in yellow would drop significantly and red would at least remain the same, given the prices last season. The predictions were made based on previous years and current seed sales and they do not appear to be in line with the CBS figures.
The red share, at 4.857 hectares, comprises 17,8% of the total sowing onion area. That share is too low and cannot be correct, says Jaap Jonker Benelux Sales Manager of De Groot en Slot. "If we look at our sales of red seed and we assume that onion growers sow 3,3 units per hectare, then with this number of hectares we would have more than 100% market share. In other words, given our sales, the number of hectares must red onions are higher." De Groot en Slot is the market leader in the sale of seed for red onions, but certainly does not serve the entire market. The other onion seed companies also have reservations about the red and yellow areas, given their market shares and sales this season.
As previously reported, this is the first year that CBS makes a distinction between yellow and red onions. But if we look at the red and yellow area estimates from previous years, we were already at least 5.000 hectares red. "And this year more red onion seed was sold than in previous years," says Jonker.
It is difficult to estimate the exact hectares, but less than 5.000 hectares red or more than 22.000 hectares yellow certainly does not seem to be the case. What is striking is that CBS has based the area figures on the area declarations of growers in the 2022 Agricultural Census, a spokesperson explains. So something isn't right somewhere. According to the estimates of other insiders, the total acreage of sowing onions from Statistics Netherlands is correct.