Although globally the onion sector is not going through its best moment, the sweet varieties continue with their particular recovery, with 10% annual increases in sales.
For over two decades, Jumosol has been one of the companies that have encouraged Spaniards to discover sweet onion varieties. “Our area of action has been closely aimed at discovering sweet onions, and I think that over this period we have changed the way Spanish people eat onions,” explained its CEO, Daniel Molina.
The Molina brothers have been promoters of the Denomination of Protected Origin ‘Cebolla Fuentes de Ebro’. “The DPO meant a qualitative leap for us, a national recognition that makes us proud and makes us remember the work carried out by our parents and grandparents,” Molina affirms.
Molina, who belongs to the second generation of a family that is an expert in this onion segment, explains that to obtain a sweet product the vegetable material is essential, although the region where it is grown and its handling are also important. “For this reason we work with seeds that we have developed ourselves, on which we have carried out many trials and studied their behaviour. Back in the day, we catalogued the entire range we had and we started cultivating the ones that had the mildest flavour. Subsequently, my brother Samuel developed this knowledge, travelling around the world to find a place where our quality standards, along with the right characteristics guarantee the same mild flavour all year long.”
At present, the company markets around 15 million kilos of sweet onions and around 20 million tonnes of the category as a whole (yellow onions, spring onions, Spanish onions, shallots, etc.)
A slowdown in foreign demand
In spite of the current weakness of the market caused by the general confinement, the exceptional situation of recent months and the closure of the Horeca channel, Spanish onions always have an opportunity on foreign markets, particularly within the EU. “The easing of the lockdown in European countries, although slow, is already in progress and we expect to reach similar amounts to those in previous years.”
