Onions Marketing
There’s no law against slapping a “sweet” sticker on any onion and selling it as such, and some in the industry claim this is happening more and more often.
While there are no enforceable regulations defining what makes an onion “sweet,” nature certainly dictates that an onion can taste sweet only if its high brix content isn’t blocked by off flavors, high pungency and other factors.
“It’s of utmost importance that pyruvic acid be low and brix be high to make it a truly sweet onion,” said Pat Coan, president of Brings Co. Inc., a division of H. Brooks & Co., New Brighton, Minn.
That regular onions are sometimes mislabeled and sold as sweets concerns some, but Delbert Bland, president, chief executive officer and owner of Bland Farms LLC, Glennville, Ga., said that kind of practice can’t go on for long.
“It’ll catch up with them,” Bland said.
“There has been a lot of recent debate on sweet onions and who is truly offering sweet onions versus just saying they are sweet onions,” said Matt Curry, president of Curry & Co. Inc., Brooks, Ore.
Research and consulting company National Onion Labs Inc., Collins, Ga., buys and tests sweet onions from retail stores throughout the country, as it has since 2003, said Lauren Dees Mizelle, consumer products advocate.
As of April 29, it had tested more than 19,000 allegedly sweet onions from 541 retail stores. Mizelle said 52% of those tested would actually be considered hot, not sweet, by National Onion Labs’ simple pungency test, which only tests pyruvic acid levels. In the first four months of 2011, 76% of its samples tested hot.
Part of the problem is a lack of distinction between “fresh” and “sweet,” Mizelle said. Retailers want sweets, but if they buy based on price and supply rather than product attributes, they might not get what they want. Producing truly sweet onions costs more than growing regular yellow onions, said Teri Gibson, marketing and customer relations manager for Peri & Sons Farms Inc., Yerington, Nev.
Mizelle said if the industry continues putting onions on shelves that are not sweet, but labeled as such, consumers will stop buying onions.
“We want consumers to start demanding that stores sell them an onion that’s sweet,” she said. “We feel the supply chain needs to adopt a continuous improvement program.”
“I think just to earn the trust of the customer base … that we should make sure that sweet onions are truly sweet,” Coan said. “We’re watching out for imposters.”
Coan said Brings receives third-party pungency-test results from its growers. While Brings Co. doesn’t require growers to certify onions, Coan said she encourages it.
“Our sweet onion program continues to grow, and we need the trust of our retail partners and consumers to grow the program in a profitable way,” Curry said.
Frontera Produce Ltd., Edinburg, Texas, pushes for third-party verification throughout the industry, said David DeBerry, director of category management.
“It’s the position of the company and me, personally, that when we present a product to the consumer as a sweet, mild onion that’s what we expect, and that’s what we intend to deliver,” he said.
Although he wouldn’t elaborate, DeBerry said Frontera is developing and implementing a third-party certification program. It’s a big project, he said, because the company markets many varieties of onions grown in different types of soils in various regions. He said details on Frontera’s program would be available in the next few months.
National Onion Labs works with growers throughout the U.S. and in 14 countries. It offers flavor certification for onions. The testing goes beyond a simple pungency test. Its Pungency Plus sweet onion flavor certification program tests pyruvic acid levels as well as other attributes that affect heat, flavor, aftertaste and sweetness. Heat, aftertaste and “off” flavors can block the sweetness of an onion, even if it has a high brix count, Mizelle said. Separate tests are done to assess each factor.
“It allows growers to see how their management styles are affecting their onions,” Mizelle said.
All of Curry & Co.’s sweet onions are certified through National Onion Labs, Curry said, and he considers that a source of pride.
“We feel certification helps establish Curry & Co. as a trusted source of sweet onions,” he said. “By having the testing done, retailers know we are delivering on our promise of a sweet onion.”
Sweet Onion Trading Co., Melbourne, Fla., is committed to testing flavor profiles of onions in all its fields this year, said Barry Rogers, president and chief executive officer. The testing, also done by National Onion Labs, will serve to reassure customers that the onions it markets as “sweet” are truly sweet, he said.
Peri & Sons has contracted with National Onion Labs certify its crops for about three years. Gibson said the company is considering whether to use the program this year. One concern is how successfully National Onion Labs promotes its program.
“They have really stepped up their marketing of the program so they can help us make retailers more aware of the importance of buying onions that are not just stickered ‘sweet,’ but are truly sweet,” Gibson said.
She said Peri & Sons wants National Onion Labs to partner in educating retailers about certification so that demand will be driven by buyers. It’s hard for Peri & Sons to know whether using the certification program actually increased sales, Gibson said. She said she hopes National Onion Labs’ marketing and education efforts going forward will change that.
Bland said he thinks certification of Vidalia onions is an unnecessary cost for those who grow properly. Bland Farms has its own lab for testing onion pungency, but the results are only for internal use.
“We don’t advocate using it as a marketing tool,” he said. “If you have a sweet onion, people will keep buying it.”
Bland said the industry is doing a better job of handling and conditioning onions due to better equipment and more experienced people.
“We’ve ended up with better onions on shelves,” Bland said.
When retailer customers ask Derrell Kelso Jr., president and owner, Onions Etc., Stockton, Calif., whether certain onions are sweet, he suggests they eat one. If they think the onion’s sweet, then they can comfortably sell them as sweets.
“It’s because I’ve tasted it and I can back it up,” Kelso said. “The bottom line is: taste them.”
Coan said there are many genuinely sweet onions available throughout the year.
“It’s somewhat silly to handle the imposters,” she said.
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