Onion workshops are not a show for effect. They are a day when we invite partners onto our field and into our store, show varieties in practice, and break the season down together into its parts. We do it every year. In this post we explain what these meetings are for, what we show, and why, for a buyer looking for a reliable supplier, this matters.
What onion workshops are
Onion workshops are industry meetings built around a single crop: the onion. They bring together growers, variety breeders, seed companies, and technology suppliers. You look at varieties in the field, talk about crop protection, fertilising, harvest, and storage, and then compare the results.
In Poland these meetings are usually organised by seed companies on their demonstration plots. We do it differently: we are the hosts, and the plot is our real, production field in the Zulawy region. That is the difference between a show and the real thing.
Why we run them
The onion is our crop jewel. Our acreage has grown from 2.5 ha to ~250 ha. In the Zulawy region onions are almost never grown, so knowledge about them is not common here. Someone had to build it from scratch. We built it on our own farm, and we do not want to keep it locked inside one farm.
The workshops do three things at once. First, we share what worked for us and what did not. Second, we learn ourselves, because every participant brings their own piece of experience. Third, we build a group around the onion that thinks alike about quality. That strengthens our position in the region's onion sector.
We hold the workshops on our own production field, not on a demonstration plot. Participants see the onion in the conditions where it really grows and where we really bring in the crop.
What we show in the field and in the store
We run the workshops across the whole chain, from soil to pallet. We do not talk about it in a room, we show it on the spot.
| Stage | What we show |
|---|---|
| Soil | Zulawy alluvial soils, parameters close to Dutch polders |
| Varieties | yellow onion Hybelle and Hysinger F1, red onion Redtide F1 |
| Crop protection | Integrated Plant Production, spot sprayer trial in 2025 |
| Harvest | working with the self-propelled AVR Puma 3 onion harvester |
| Storage | a 13,000-tonne store and an automated packing line |
In the field we talk about why we chose these particular varieties for our climate and for the buyer. In the store we show the drying and grading, because the result of a season is often decided not by the yield itself, but by the state the onion is in when it reaches the packer. How we do this day to day is described in our guide to growing onions in the Zulawy region and in the post on onion storage.
What we learn ourselves at the workshops
It is easy to think the host only teaches. With us it is different. The wet 2025 season forced us to work with split micro-doses of herbicide, because the onion keeps the soil bare all season long. Things like this are best talked through with people who face the same problem on their own field.
That is why we treat the workshops as a two-way exchange. We show our machines and our way of working, but we also listen to how others handle weed pressure, drying in a maritime climate, or choosing varieties for a specific buyer. Some of this equipment can be seen in our machinery park.
What it means for an onion buyer
For a buyer, the workshops are not a curiosity but a signal. A supplier who invites the industry onto their field every year and openly breaks the season down has nothing to hide. It shows they know what they are doing, and that they do it consistently.
Our vegetables reach market leaders such as Onix, Farm Frites, and FreshPol, partners who supply the largest retail chains and processing plants in Poland and Europe. Buyers like these check a supplier before they sign a contract. Open workshops, the GlobalG.A.P. and GRASP certificates, and our own store are proof for them that there is a real farm behind the supply, not a middleman with no backbone. How commercial cooperation works with us is described in the post on wholesale onions from the Zulawy region.
Looking for an onion supplier who knows where their crop comes from? See our onion offer or write to us through the contact page.
