Hort's FTA windfall
NZ onion growers are getting an extra $3 million this season for exports to the European Union, thanks to the early ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA).
"We have a finite window for Europe which makes up 40% of exports so that's quite important," James Kuperus, chief executive of Onions New Zealand, told Hort News.
The first shipment was able to be sent in the first week of February with the focus now shifting to supplying the Spanish market.
"It will be tight but not impossible."
While Hawke's Bay has had a difficult season, crops grown in the Manawatu and Canterbury were looking good for the peak of the export season which runs until May, counter to European production.
"It's all about managing the quality and expectations of what will be coming out of Pukekohe."
It was too early to tell what the total damage to crops in the area was. Some of the flooding had been superficial but had added to quality concerns in what had already been a very wet season.
Kuperus says growers were aware of which of their onion blocks might be of lesser quality so woud be working with exporters to send class two products to other export markets, which didn't pay a premium for top quality, or for local processing.
The final returns for the season wouldn't be known until September. In recent years, onion exports have sat around a value of $150 million annually with the crop, grown on over 2,000 hectares, mainly exported to Europe and Indonesia.
