Carl van de Wiel from Agro Centre Holland says that the market for red onions is developing well, "The prospects look good. There is plenty of demand for the red onions; in fact, demand is coming from all sides. Only demand from England is very disappointing. England is producing more and more of their own red onions and becoming self-sufficient with this product. Farmers also want to sell because the 18-24 cent price for farmers is very good."
Although there are some very good quality red onions, not all of them are perfect, "There are onions that need to be cleared away soon due to the rain. Many growers are afraid of losing their product, and that puts extra pressure on the supply. I don't expect the price to rise anytime soon, but a price increase will happen before the end of the season. I expect the red onions to be more expensive in April and May," says Carl.
The red onion growing area in the Netherlands remained fairly stable this season, "But problems remain in European harvests. Many growers start out optimistic about growing red onions, but it is a difficult crop to grow and if they have to clear their harvest one time they may want to play it safe the next year and switch over to another crop," says Carl. In other years it has been difficult to get large red onions, but this year that has not been as much of a problem, "Due to the inconsistent turnout the plant numbers were lower, but the onions were larger. This has resulted in a considerable demand for the smaller onions."
