Prince de Bretagne grows produce on the northern coast of Brittany in France, and though they mainly grow their onions for the French market, they export during all the season in Germany, UK and Italy, and at the end of the season in Spain. But now that the local season has just started, most of their produce is staying at home, and it's fetching a good price.
“There's a good market at the moment,” said Pierre Gélébart, product manager for Prince de Bretagne. “But it's often like that for the pink onion at the beginning of the season.” The Oignon Rose de Bretagne, their branded pink onion, currently brings 0.30 euros to producers per kilo, while the Roscoff onion, a hand-picked variety that is particular to the Roscoff region, sells for as much as two euros per kilo.
While good prices are common when the season starts, a strong market is also a result of the pink onion's specialty nature in general and the Roscoff onion's status in particular.
“The Roscoff onion must be cleaned by hand, and there is no treatment against germination,” said Gélébart. Added to the fact that the Roscoff has AOC status, which designates it as having the qualities and characteristics of produce grown from a specific geographic region, it makes sense that the Roscoff commands a higher price.
Onion production for Prince de Bretagne started with planting in February and continued with harvesting in August. Total production for them is estimated to reach 2,500 tons this year.
