The UK onion crop has run into difficulty this season with the continuation of wet weather. “Not all set onions have been harvested yet,” says Chris Wilkinson, managing director of Interveg. “60 per cent of the crop has been pulled out of the ground in good condition but the recent downpours mean that a lot of the onions are still out in the fields.”
Rain has not just prevented harvesting, it is also threatening the quality of the crop. “The onions are suffering quite badly from being over mature and that has affected skin quality,” says Wilkinson. “We need to wait for the weather and the soil to dry before we can begin harvesting again. The damp conditions have also caused a lot of pressure in terms of disease and that is affecting both yield and quality. Downy Mildew and Botrytis are both major problems that thrive in these conditions.”
Before the downpours began, everything was on track for a good harvest, says Malcolm Gray, managing director of the Allium Alliance, but the recent wet weather has resulted in uncertainty. “If it clears up in the next two to three weeks then there will be no problems,” he says, “but if it persists then we can expect difficulties with the aesthetic appearance, and in particular, skin stain.”
The situation is a complete reversal on last season. “Last year we had a hot, dry summer but this August could well be the wettest on record,” says Gray. “We had a fairly big yield last year and high prices. This year, with the cooler weather it is likely we will have bigger bulb sizes, but this will not be a problem for sales, in fact, it should be a benefit.”
Warm weather might be ideal for harvesting but is not beneficial to every sector of the onion trade. For processors such as Parripak Foods, the dry, hot summer of 2003 meant that market prices were high and the onions were generally smaller.
This year’s wet weather has also brought problems. “Disease will have an impact on stored crops, reducing quality and shelf life later on,” says James Parrish, joint managing director of Parripak Foods. “However if the growing season ends with sunnier, drier conditions, these problems could be averted.”
The set crop is just a small percentage of the total UK crop, and harvesting is now beginning for the seed crop. “Wet weather is still a concern and there is a big question mark over storability,” says Wilkinson, “but in terms of skin quality the situation is not too bad and it is not too late for the soil to dry up.”
The UK is not alone in having suffered the effects of bad weather, says Wilkinson. “There are similar problems in the Netherlands and in Italy, crops have been affected by summer rains in Puglia. Yields are still good there and the quality is reasonable but there are poor prices, as there are in the UK. In Spain the quality of onions is actually much better than it was last year, but overall, the season could still be hampered by a shortage of quality product.”
At present there is a lot of rain in the Netherlands, but drier weather has been forecast, says Adriaan van Belzen, export manager for Mulder Onions BV. “We are ready to start lifting the main crop and are anticipating good-sized onions thanks to perfect growing conditions.”
Mulder Onions BV is the largest exporter of onions from the Netherlands to the UK. “In the Netherlands the final figures for the 2003/2004 season were 825,000 mt, of which we exported 735,000t,” says van Belzen. “Next season acreage will increase by six per cent, so yields will be considerably higher. Germany, Spain and France are also expected to increase their acreage by six per cent while Poland is expected to have 10 per cent more.”
The planted area of onions across the EU this year is up which potentially could force a situation of oversupply in most markets, says Jason Burgess md at Rustler Produce. “Recent wet weather and high disease pressure in the Netherlands and the UK may help to create a two tier market with Class 1 onions matching demand and Class 2 being oversupplied. However with many crops two to three weeks behind their normal maturity dates harvest has been delayed and it is too early to tell if the weather will have a major effect on quality.”
In Spain the area is up following last year’s high prices that caused an over supplied and lower priced market, says Burgess. “The majority of crops are still to be harvested but quality is predicted to be good. Where the weather has been wet in July and August, onion crops will be larger than normal in northern Europe. Spain will be expecting an average sized crop. UK crop yields have the potential to be much higher this year due to the weather, however it is still to early to tell what effect the adverse conditions will have on final quality.”
The Onix Group, based in Poland, is expecting a five per cent total yield increase with a 10 per cent increase in acreage. “Western Poland has had very dry weather during the last two months although other areas have been very wet of late so crops may be varied in quality and yield this season,” says Onix group director Simon West. “Our ware crops will be mainly 50-70mm bulb size rather than targeted 60-80mm, and the cold, humid weather has resulted in some problems with Downy Mildew fungus.”
Davis (Louth) works closely with Dacomex based in Zeeland, the Netherlands. This year, says Davis (Louth) md Peter Davis, the onion market has come under pressure as sizes have been mainly large, (70-90)mm and therefore not suitable for the German or African markets which prefer smaller grade onions at 40-60mm or 50-70mm. As the early onions won’t keep, they cannot be put into storage and subsequently prices on deliveries to the UK have fallen.
Current prices are low, however as supplies are switched to main crop and product goes into store, normal prices are expected to return with the option to sell or store depending on market demand. “There are still lots of onions to harvest and we will have to keep a watchful eye on the weather as some of the downpours have caused damage to the crops,” says Davis. “In some parts of the Netherlands hail has fallen and in other parts fields have all but been washed away. Despite this, expectations are still good. We expect approximately 60 per cent of the crop to be 60mm + compared with only 40 per cent last year.”
Davis (Louth) also works with pre-packed onions in bags for the supermarkets, bagging them and labelling them in France and has now ventured into some of the discounters with a value label. “There is strong competition from the Netherlands and the UK,” says Davis, “but the advantage French onions have over Dutch product is that in general the skin finish is often better - although there are some exceptions to the rule. As a guide we have been selling the French onions at 10p a kilo departure packhouse loose, compared with 8p a kilo for the Dutch delivered to the UK.”
The company’s Spanish onion exports are concentrated in the Valencia region. “Most of our Spanish onions go to packers and importers serving the supermarkets and other retail outlets. Although we do have a business serving the caterers with a size 3 and the ethnic market with sizes 1 and 2,” says Davis. “We have five growers in the consortium who provide 80 per cent of our requirements. There are times when we do have to purchase produce outside of our growers but we aim as much as possible to ship everything in house. We work with the Stasia brand, packed in Museros, just outside of Valencia. The main sizes that we work with are the large onions 1-2 for wholesale markets (Chinese requirements) 3 for the caterers and 4 for packing and we normally do a split grade on the 4s.”
Seminis has active programmes in Europe and the US to select varieties suited to the varying conditions and market requirements across the world. “In bulb onions, our variety Barito F1 has been the backbone of most growers’ early onion programs,” says special projects manager, Steve Parrott. “An early, high yielding, bolt tolerant, thin necked hybrid, Barito’s bulbs are round, firm and yellow/brown in colour. Skin quality and skin retention is good, thus making Barito an ideal variety for medium-term storage.”
In recent years, Barito has been joined by Vares F1, a fast variety maturing a week ahead of Barito and Tangito F1. An early-main crop hybrid, Tangito produces excellent globe shaped bulbs with medium-thick, well-retained quality skins, suitable for long term storage.
“Alongside Tangito, this year we introduced Baldito F1, a variety that is partially resistant to mildew and similar maturity to Tangito. It also has good globe shaped bulbs and is for long term storage,” says Parrott. “In salad onions, recent introductions, Baja Verde and Green Banner have seen tremendous growth in sales, their improvement in vigour, yield and quality being recognised by many salad onion growers.”
Seminis is constantly looking for improvements in varietal selection to produce better onion crops under difficult conditions and will be offering more varieties to the growers next spring. “As with most species of vegetable grown in Europe, the variable weather patterns from one month to the next mean that varieties have to be able to cope with differing growing conditions and still deliver a quality finished product,” says Parrott. “Many onions are drilled in early spring as soon as the land becomes workable. At such a time, the night temperatures can still drop close to freezing and the soil can still be cold and wet. Under these conditions, an onion seed is required to germinate, establish and grow to eventually produce a bulb with good shape and skin finish, suited to medium to long-term storage. Not an easy feat, but one that is required none the less.”
Onix is experiencing a healthy increase in demand and interest from the UK food and manufacturing sector. Says West: “Many UK customers are starting to feel confident that they can now rely on our competitively fixed priced contract supply of high quality fresh chilled onion products from Poland, safely backed by sustainable and traceable whole crop raw material.
“Now that Poland has entered the EU, we are able to travel by road from door to door in 48 hours, comfortably meeting our UK customers just in time delivery requirements and also resulting in extended product shelf life and improved freshness.”
In the UK there is decent growth in onion consumption, particularly in the foodservice areas. Says Wilkinson: “The market for processed onions is increasing every year as the demand for ready meals is on the up. Consumption of red onions is also increasing although that is probably driven by the reduced retail price. Last summer helped to increase consumption of red onions in salads. That was both because of the hot weather and because they were available for longer.”
Parripak’s main market is supply to food meal manufacturers who need product diced and sliced and delivered daily. Onions are used in a host of convenience products from Indian snack products to speciality breads.
“Lifestyle changes have meant more leisure time and greater disposable income,” says Burgess, “but less time or inclination to prepare home-cooked meals. In the last four years the chilled convenience and ready meals market has increased by more than 50 per cent. The growth of pre-packed vegetables (which are usually designed to make stir-fry cooking easier) is a further indicator of how central the factor of convenience has become.”
The competition in food processing is fierce and the need to continually re-invest in new product development, processes and efficiencies is paramount. In the last two years, Parripak has invested in new plant and machinery including humidity controlled rapid cooling intake fridges, quality control office and weighbridge.
If the wet weather has played havoc with this year’s production, it has also taken its toll on the processing sector - the climatic unpredictability of the last two months has driven shoppers and retailers to move away from their traditional summer trading patterns. “Now,” says Burgess, “they are reacting on impulse to purchases and this will potentially have a negative impact both in the medium and long term.”
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