magic boundary of more than one million metric tons

The available numbers up to and including week 19 show a trade season which will once again surpass the record of its previous season. The total amount of exported Holland Onions is currently 1.028.000 metric tons and is expected to end up well above 1,1 million tons of net export. Yet again we welcomed some new export destinations such as Myanmar and Madagascar, even though their volumes are still very small. The island state of Sri Lanka (former Ceylon) is also on the list this year, where out of nowhere they consumed no less than a million kilograms of Holland Onions this season.

The largest consumers of the season can once again be found on the African continent with old, familiar countries on the West-coast such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Guinea and Mali, but also a couple of new destinations such as Tunisia, Namibia and Somalia. And we are gaining ground in South Africa, growing from 12.500 kilograms to a total of more than 880.000 kilograms. Given the growing prosperity and strongly increasing world population the East African coast will become more and more interesting as a market for the Holland Onion.

There is a striking trend to Britain. Despite the fact that the export will not reach the extreme volumes of the previous season, our neighboring island already imported a nice amount of around 95.000 tons of Dutch onions. With an export share of a little under 10 percent this is an important market that we like to continue serving after the Brexit!

Vietnam and Taiwan imported more Holland Onions again this season and in the Middle East we still have the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman as new and developing export destinations offering a lot of perspective.

On the American continent we see a continuing growth in Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador. And it appears that the United States is also becoming a regular customer. In South America Brazil has been knocking on our doors again, particularly the last couple of weeks, importing 31.000 tons.

Closer to home Portugal and the Canary Islands are really starting to enjoy our Holland Onions with tripled and quadrupled export numbers.