Onions in the doldrums
With the end of the southern hemisphere onion season upon us, now is the time for British onions to shine. Compared to the last two years, the growing and harvesting season has been fairly good.
On the downside, a colder than usual spring held onion production back, and the wet weather the UK is experiencing is not helping either harvest or storage of the product.
“Things are shaping up for an average year,” says Robert Oldershaw Jnr, vice-chairman of the British Onion Producers’ Association, “but obviously this depends on the rest of the harvest and the weather.”
Quality control has been at an all-time high after last year’s crop took a battering from extremely wet weather conditions and, although it is too early to make any predictions about the overall 2008 crop, Oldershaw believes that quality will be considerably better than last year.
“The quality on the shelves has largely been unaffected, as packers have worked extremely hard to maintain consistent quality on the shelves,” he says. “The amount that has been thrown out however, due to poorer quality, has increased.
“[Yield] will probably be better than two years ago and roughly similar to last year, although as long as the weather holds, the quality should be better.”
Lance Cornell of supplier Oakley Grower Services agrees that the UK onion crop is in the middle of a waiting game. “Obviously, it is still early days, but we have had a lot of wet weather and we will see how yield and quality pan out in the next couple of weeks,” he says. “Onions do not like water, and the British crop will not have durability if it continues to rain. It all depends on the quality from harvest into the store. The best quality you put in will be the best quality you come out with.
“Last year, floods ruined the chances of a lot of the British and Dutch crop, but this year is a different story. It is a waiting game and it is difficult to predict.
“Dutch onions are now back on the scene, with the main crop scheduled for this month, and by all accounts the crop will be in reasonable order. The UK market needs Dutch imports and it is very much part of the UK business now.”
Reports indicate that there may be an influx of onions on the market, if the southern hemisphere onion season is anything to go by. Due to last year’s low-yielding UK onion crop, many growers and suppliers have taken the opportunity to supply the UK with both hands, meaning stiff competition may be on the cards. “Last year was a bad season for UK onions,” explains Cornell. “The price was high because there was a shortage, which has attracted people in this year. Growers are more prepared, but it is fairly inevitable that this attitude will cause an oversupply.
“This year, Tasmanian onions lasted until the beginning of August, but there has been a good choice of New Zealand and South African product around, plus the Dutch season continued to June and its early crop started at the end of July. The demand was there in the UK, but so was the volume.”
According to British Onions, demand has increased for home-grown onions in the UK, and the group puts the increase down to its PR activity. The British Onions’ campaign has been in place for two years and aims to promote the health benefits of eating British onions and make them relevant to the modern consumer, as well as encourage them to purchase onions more frequently from UK supermarkets. This year, sampling activities have been added to the campaign, with British Onions hosting a stand at Taste of Birmingham to educate consumers about the many health and wellbeing benefits of eating onions.
Mulder Onions BV sources onions from the Netherlands year-round, with a packing station in La Mancha, Spain, from which its sends onions throughout Europe, with 25,000 million tonnes coming into the UK a year. The supplier sources product from the southern hemisphere - Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa - from February to July, and garlic from China.
Gerard Hoekman, general manager of the company, says Mulder Onions sees a steady and regular demand from UK throughout the season. “Demand from the UK is very stable,” he says. “Consumption does not vary a lot. In fact, whether or not the UK needs to import more or less depends on how UK product is faring, but I hear that is also stable.
“I do not think there will not be a lack of product this season, and we are in daily contact with our suppliers. We need to inform them not only about price developments, but also about the world market situation and yield/crop predictions.”
A healthy return very much depends on the quality the onion growers produce and how they are affected by the weather. “Costs are certainly increasing and it does sometimes take a while to filter through to the grower from the retail end,” says Oldershaw. “Retailers are looking for cheaper prices to counteract the credit crunch, but costs are increasing across the supply chain. The opportunity for growers to produce less risky crops is certainly there and returns do need to increase this year to maintain a healthy supply base going forward, but this can only come if retailers recognise these issues.”
Increased costs of agrochemicals, fuel and labour are also having a profound effect on the cost of growing onions, and UK market demands are on the increase.
“New varieties are coming up all the time,” says Hoekman. “The market is demanding improvement and supermarkets are forcing growers to supply product which is basically pesticide-free. This is a big challenge for the seed breeders and the pressure is on to breed more and more resistant products to fulfil these wishes.”
Going for garlic
It is a somewhat rosier picture for UK garlic. According to Mulder Onions, the garlic coming in from China has been low in quantity and Hoekman has described the recent production as “disastrous”.
This leaves UK garlic growers with the opportunity to push forward their niche, high-quality product to the domestic market.
The Really Garlicky Company is currently in mid-harvest in Aberdeenshire and maintains that, after some unfavourable weather conditions, the situation is much the same as it is for UK onions. “We had a difficult growing season with a colder than usual start,” reveals Glen Allingham, co-founder of the company, which produces in the region of 60t a year of one variety of garlic on 60 acres of land. “Last year, although wet, was better for the growth of the garlic. Our average year brings 27 inches of rain, which is ample for garlic and, teamed with a cold winter, you have the perfect season.
“Conditions were good in October, when we planted this season’s garlic, but it was too cold in May. The variety of garlic we grow does not like the cold, and it basically stops growing. The cold temperature affects its size and the vigour of the crop; it can also be more prone to disease. We will not know what the quality will be like until it has been dried.”
At the other end of the country, The Garlic Farm, which has 40a of garlic in the Isle of Wight and produces an average of 100t a year, harvests up to 12 types of garlic throughout the summer months. The owner of The Garlic Farm, Colin Boswell, believes that this year’s garlic is as good a quality as any year that he can remember. “British garlic growers will never compete with Spain or China, but there is a niche for specialist production of certain types of garlic suited to the UK climate and consumer,” he says.
Boswell believes that the UK climate is not always kind to garlic, particularly at harvest. “We have experienced low temperatures and therefore late ripening of the garlic this season,” says Boswell. “However, our garlic needs plenty of water to grow, so size has been good.
“Harvesting in between the showers has been problematic, but the sun came out to dry the garlic in the field in July, which helped.”
Demand for home-grown garlic is getting stronger year on year. The Really Garlicky Company has never been able to satisfy demand for its wild garlic variety and endeavours to increase production each year. “Every year, we sell out of stock and every year will grow more,” says Allingham, who started the company in 1999 with one acre of land. “Next year, we are going try to hold at 60a and try to improve on our husbandry techniques to increase yield.”
Really Garlicky has been working to produce disease-free garlic with a micropropagation laboratory for the last three years. Allingham hopes that the garlic will be ready to put into production next year.
The Scottish grower does not compare its garlic with Spanish or Argentine imports, and focuses on putting quality product onto the market through its customers Tesco, Waitrose and Booths. “We see our product as a niche, and it commands a higher price premium than Spanish garlic. And Chinese garlic is not top quality and purely sells on a commercial base level. It is cheap and you get what you pay for.”
Boswell holds similar views. “Consumers, even the uninitiated, instinctively recognise quality,” he says. “Size and quality this year are good, so demand is high. We have also been fortunate in winning a fourth gold at Hampton Court Flower Show from the Royal Horticultural Society this year, which generated good publicity and wide TV coverage.”
This season, The Garlic Farm’s new addition to its range, Purple Moldovan - a rare heritage garlic - has sold well and has been recognised for its outstanding powerful flavour. The company’s Elephant Garlic also sold well, but Solent Wight, a late garlic, harvested at the end of July and planted in January and February, is The Garlic Farm’s most popular garlic product. Furthermore, Boswell says that an increasing understanding of what consumers can do with garlic shoots enables the company to do a good trade in them, as well as the continually popular Elephant Garlic flowers.
But are garlic growers making a healthy return? Boswell does not think that they are. “If we took all the assets involved and cost them out, then probably not. Nevertheless, our return is sufficient to encourage us to continue to invest and innovate.”
“We have very few end customers,” says Allingham on the same subject matter, “and supermarkets control the price. They know what price they should be paying and are aware of our costs. Supermarkets are working in a very competitive market and do not pay high prices without good reason. There is no danger of being overpaid.”
Allingham believes that the main problem for UK garlic growers is learning how to grow the product effectively. “Garlic is a difficult crop to grow and the seasons are different every year. Garlic growers in the UK have to learn by their own mistakes because no advice is out there,” he says.
Looking forward
The UK garlic sector has been enhancing its range of products by moving on to garlic by-products, and Really Garlicky and The Garlic Farm have seen results from prepared garlic, garlic shoots and flowers. “We have been working with food preparation companies to hopefully get garlic shoots into the mainstream,” says Allingham. “But we are a small company and we need a good push. We have a lot to do if we want to be involved in the food preparation industry.”
Despite the season’s uncertain future, Oldershaw believes the future of the onion industry in the UK is bright. “I see demand increasing further with increased awareness generated by our marketing efforts, alongside the desire of the general public to cook more at home. Onions are a staple part of cooking, as well as being an exciting ingredient in their own right,” he says.
BRITISH ONIONS BATTLES ON
The British Onions’ campaign is facing a serious problem in the shape of lack of funding, and its future hangs in the balance.
“The coverage generated by the campaign has exceeded all expectations; however, the group now face a serious problem which may threaten the future of the campaign,” says Jonathan Tole, chairman of British Onions. “A lack of funding may mean a reduction in the level of PR activity or, in the worst case, that the campaign will be withdrawn.”
Sputnik Communications, which handles the PR campaign, says of the issue of funding: “The British Onions campaign, we are pleased to say, has been much more successful than we first imagined, and we are now in a strong position to build on the success of 2007-08. Keeping the momentum up is essential and we have some fantastic ideas about how to take the campaign to the next level - it would be hugely disappointing if we couldn’t move forward because of funding issues.”
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