The onion market is not too wild at the moment. "We're doing well with our retail orders; if we had to rely on exports, it certainly wouldn't be enough," says Jaap D'Hont of Sorteerbedrijf D'Hont in the Netherlands.
"During carnival, it often takes slightly longer for orders to come through, which is nothing unusual for that time of year. The red onion market is somewhat lazy and expensive, and overseas buyers seem to balk at the high prices. The price of yellow onions has stabilized. Hopefully, demand within Europe will pick up in the coming weeks." According to the sorter, shallot sales are plodding along, too. "Most of our work is based on fixed agreements. There's no rush for the larger sizes I can't offload to stores," Jaap explains.
"Quality-wise, the onions don't disappoint. At the start of the season, there were more problems with fusarium and thick necks, but I feel we've had the worst of it. There's an occasional lesser batch, but they've found their way to Poland quite well over the past weeks. What remains, I truly don't find bad in terms of quality." Regarding developments in optical sorting, he is resolute. "We'll all be doing it within five years; we're also exploring that investment. Not just for quality reasons, but also to fill the labor gap; otherwise, you simply can't manage," Jaap concludes.
For more information:
Jaap D'Hont
Sorteerbedrijf D'Hont
1 Noordweg
4503 PE, Groede, NL
Tel.: +31 (0) 117 371 606
[email protected]