Maker · Vegetables
Organic Onions from Piet van Andel
Organic yellow and red onions from Zeewolde, grown on the clay of Flevoland. Piet van Andel invested in his own storage and sorting, and delivers year-round. No seasonal gap, no imports when Dutch onion runs out.
The story
Who's behind it
Piet van Andel has an organic arable farm in Zeewolde, on the clay soil of Flevoland. The onion is central: yellow and red seed onions, grown in open ground without synthetic fertiliser or chemical pest control. Together with partnership Twisk he's been farming since 1995, and the business brings not only their own harvest but also onions from fifteen other growers to market.
The difference isn't just in the growing but in what happens after harvest. In 2015, Van Andel built his own storage and sorting facility. There's space for over 9,000 tonnes of onion, some 5,000 tonnes in cooled, conditioned rooms with condensation drying. Two sorting lines handle different sizes and packaging. The operation runs on solar energy, after the business switched from gas to green electricity.
What really sets it apart
For you as a chef the benefit is simple: one organic onion, all year round, from the same grower. Thanks to that own storage there's hardly a gap in supply. Where most kitchens switch to imports in late spring once domestic organic onion runs out, this onion just stays available. Your flavour and your origin story don't change halfway through the season.
The clay of Flevoland gives a firm onion with a full flavour. Firm also means practical: it peels clean, stays long in your mise en place and doesn't fall apart if you're slowly confiting it. The yellow is your workhorse for stock, soup and confited bases. The red is milder and sweeter, made for raw use and pickling.
How to stand out with this
Treat the onion not as filler but as a vegetable. A whole roasted onion or a plate of slowly confited onions shows you take something everyday seriously, and guests notice precisely because they don't expect it.
Use the origin on the menu. Organic, Zeewolde, same grower all year: that's a concrete fact, not marketing speak. And because you're getting yellow onion, red onion and even red beetroot from one address in Flevoland, you keep your sourcing short and your story at the table believable.
“Because we've invested in our own storage and sorting, we've been able to supply our customers with onions year-round in recent years.”
Chef’s tip
Take your time with confit. Cut yellow onion into half-rings and let it slowly sweeten on low heat, a half hour or longer, until almost melting. That base lifts a soup, a sauce or a piece of meat without adding sugar. Keep red onion raw or briefly pickled, for colour and sharpness on the plate.
How to use it
Ideas for your menu
Slowly confited onions
Yellow onion on low heat until sweet and dark. Works as the base under meat, in a quiche or with aged cheese.
Whole roasted onion
Unpeeled onion in the oven until the heart is soft, then split open with butter and thyme. A vegetable that stands on its own as a side.
Pickled red onion
Thinly sliced, briefly in vinegar with a little sugar and salt. Sharpness and colour with raw fish, terrine or a salad.
Onion stock
Roasted skins and trimming offcuts steep to a clear, dark stock. Deep flavour from what would otherwise be waste.
For your menu
“Organic onions from Piet van Andel in Zeewolde, grown on Flevoland clay and delivered year-round from own storage.”
Products from Organic Onions from Piet van Andel
What we carry from this maker
Bieten Dry aged zak a 1kg
Bieten gekookt 500gr Bio
Bieten rood Gold de Legume Bio
Uien rood Gold de Legume Bio
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