We Sell About 350 Tons of Onions a Week

The German company Hans A. Wüst GmbH, which belongs to the Gemüsering Stuttgart group, was founded in 1978 by the former director of the same name at the Mannheim wholesale market. The company processes around 60,000 tons of potatoes and 20,000 tons of onions per year in its handling plants. Buyer and seller Jochen Kandziora tell us about the current range of onions from Hans A. Wüst GmbH.

"Usually we start marketing our onions in the month of June. The season lasts until the end of March, after which we buy onions from Lower Saxony, the Netherlands, the Lower Rhine, and Bavaria. The supply from Bavaria is limited this year, mainly because they have quality problems. Therefore, we will mainly receive onions from Lower Saxony," says Kandziora. Starting in the middle/end of April, the company will buy onions from New Zealand and South Africa, which will be offered until June, followed by onions from the Palatinate.

"We receive around 350 tonnes a week. Our main customer is the retail sector. We hardly supply wholesale markets, as farmers now sell their produce directly to supply markets like Cologne or Düsseldorf. There is very little room left for intermediaries in this sales channel," says Kandziora.

The onion expert tells us that, compared to previous years, demand has increased by around 10% this year, also thanks to higher household consumption. "Our prices have not gone up. We are still at 18-22 euros per 100 kg. Lower Saxony has increased its volumes and the Netherlands is selling a lot of batches in northern Germany," says Kandziora. In April, the company switches to imported products, so storage products may no longer find buyers. "That makes some in the onion market quite nervous."

We Sell About 350 Tons of Onions a Week PDF