full steam ahead towards a new world record

Once more, the Holland Onion seems to be full steam ahead towards a new export volume record this season. With volumes well above 30,000 tonnes for the 11th week in a row, the export has already exceeded the previous best season by 11%. For the first time in history, the magic number of 40,000 tonnes per week was exceeded in the first week of October. This record was immediately shattered in the first week of November, by the staggering weekly export figure of more than 46,000 tonnes! We need everyone to pull out the stops to meet the enormous demand.

Anniversary
Looking at the decade from 2010 onwards, we see a consistent and solid increase in export figures of at least 4% per year. This growth has only been interrupted by crop failures in some years, like in 2018, when the stock of Holland Onions was sold out at an early stage.

Covid 19 proof
In this time of Covid 19, there have been abrupt changes in the global demand for food and this has caused strong ripple effects throughout the Dutch onion chain. Restaurants and the catering industry have closed, which has resulted in an increase in sales in supermarkets. Consumer demand has shifted towards basic necessities with long shelf lives, that are full of taste and have high nutritional values, such as the Holland Onion. Because of Covid 19, home cooking using fresh and tasty ingredients has become immensely popular and is actually being rediscovered. It has also raised a great interest in foods that give health security. Within the Netherlands, the demand for onions for daily shopping alone has increased by 21% in the first six months of 2020. We see a similar pattern all over the world.

Bangladesh in the top 10
Some governments, such as India, have even introduced price freezes or export bans on onions to guarantee domestic supply. These measures were necessary because onions are a basic necessity in these countries and a shortage of onions would immediately cause political unrest and instability. At first, we thought that export to India and to the neighbouring countries that are usually supplied by India, was a one-off opportunity. However, this season we have again exported considerable amounts of Dutch onions to these countries due to local shortages. For example, Bangladesh came out of nowhere and imported more than 17 million kilograms, in just 8 weeks! It easily beat Sri Lanka, which itself is well on its way to doubling its imports this season. The Philippines have almost imported four times the quantity of Holland Onions they imported last season and they are now in 7th place. But also Hong Kong has found its way to our onion market. Now we're waiting for China, which could be a large potential buyer of Holland Onion if it decides to open its borders.

Beloved Hero
It’s great that the Netherlands is able to step up to fill the gap in local demand and at the same time can provide sufficient healthy food for our fellow human beings in other countries. Although no less than 92% of onion production worldwide is produced for and consumed by the local market (local-for-local), the other 8% appears to be more and more necessary to fill local shortages. With its 20% market share, the Netherlands has played a prominent and pioneering role in this for decades. The previous few years have showed how vitally important this role is when other countries have had to contend with crop failures in such a basic product. These countries know where to find us and appreciate the Holland Onion because of its attractive price-quality ratio.

Widespread coverage
Compared to the previous year, this season we are seeing an overall sustainable growth of approximately 6% across the board and in all countries. This is a good, steadily growing export performance that creates opportunities. The Holland Onion is also becoming increasingly popular in the Caribbean. Almost every island in the Caribbean Sea has become a regular customer. Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are increasingly enthusiastic about the Dutch onion and they are firmly settled in the top 30. The French part of Saint Martin is this season's newcomer in the export ranks. Central America is well represented by countries, such as Nicaragua and Honduras. Because of political turmoil, the export to Panama came to a standstill, but we're working on that. The same goes for Costa Rica, where the Holland Onion has no foothold yet.

Striking new-comers
Japan and Azerbaijan are brand new export markets and they have cautiously bought their first few hundred kilos. And for the first time in the history of Holland Onion, we also export to Canada. The United Arab Emirates touched the 1 million kilograms in its third year and in doing so, it overtook Brazil. Together with the east coast of Africa, these parts of the world are enormous markets in which demand will grow rapidly in the coming years. The core requirements are a stable political situation and logistics capability for supply and transit. These requirements apply in a broad sense and they go hand in hand with the countries’ economic development and wealth. That's also why it is worthwhile to keep working on these areas and to introduce them to the Holland Onion!