Onion sets: first-year or second-year
Onion sets have two markets: first-year and second-year. Do you want to grow first-year onion sets? This means you will be growing starting material for the following year (for growers of second-year onion sets). In that case, you will want to know in advance who you are producing for and under what conditions. This is always done on a contractual basis. PPA brings parties together and records agreements, for both conventional and organic first-year cultivation. Do you want to grow second-year onion sets? Then you work with a short, intensive sales period where timing is crucial. Through contract farming or open trade, PPA connects you with buyers such as sorters, packers, exporters, retailers, and processors, ensuring your batch reaches the right buyer at the right time.
Our onion sets
You grow first-year onion sets from seed, with sales agreed upon in advance. PPA knows the market and mediates the sale of your batch, whether conventional or organic.
You grow second-year onion sets from first-year planting material for consumption and processing. PPA connects your batch with suitable buyers and mediates in the sales, both conventional and organic.
Why PPA in onion sets?
The onion set market requires specialist knowledge. First-year and second-year onion sets each have their own cultivation, sales, and destination. Precisely because both markets have their own dynamics and sales opportunities, it is important to know early in the season what the demand is. We know the market for both first-year and second-year onion sets and maintain daily contact with suppliers, traders, processors, exporters, and packers. This allows us to know which varieties and volumes are in demand, and where opportunities arise for your product. For both crops, PPA ensures clear agreements, an active network, and guidance on sales throughout the season. This allows you to focus on growing a good crop.
Connect directly to an active network
PPA works with sorters, packers, and processors specifically active in the onion set market. That network has been built through years of daily contact. For you, this means direct access to the buyers that matter right now, without having to sound out the market yourself.
PPA visits
more than 1,000 growers
annually to broker
all types of onions.
Our customers speak
"Patrick is quick to respond, drops by regularly, and knows what's going on. The collaboration has been consistent and pleasant for years. When something works well, you don't want to change it. That is the feeling we have at PPA."
Trust for almost twenty years
Loonbedrijf Hoogland has been working with PPA for nearly twenty years for the sale of first-year onion sets. Communication lines are short, contact is personal, and during the harvest, transport to customers is fully coordinated and arranged. This allows the focus to remain on cultivation, while PPA handles the mediation and logistical processing.
Questions about selling onion sets?
Planting onions requires different choices than onions grown from seed, precisely because of the short turnaround time. Below you will find the most frequently asked questions. Do you have other questions? Contact us for personal advice.
When should I secure my onion sets with a buyer?
For first-year onion sets, you always secure sales in advance; free trade is not possible here. For second-year onion sets, this is possible, but even then, the rule applies: by switching in time, you avoid having to find a buyer under pressure just before harvest.
What if my harvest is earlier or later than planned?
We take shifts in harvest time into account and continuously coordinate this with buyers, so that a small change in planning does not immediately become a problem.
Do you also work with first-year onion sets as starting material?
Yes. We broker both first-year and second-year onion sets and help determine which form best suits your cultivation plan. For first-year onion sets, we work with a fixed, somewhat smaller group of growers, whereas second-year onion sets have a broader market.
Does PPA also broker organic onion sets?
Yes. In addition to conventional onion sets, we also broker organic first-year and second-year onion sets. The group of organic growers is stable and manageable, so we know that market well.
Sales security, precisely when it is needed
You sell your onion sets on time, under clear conditions. This provides peace of mind and a better starting point, because an onion crop sold without pressure ultimately yields you more than a batch you have to get rid of in a hurry.