L&M Cos. Inc. now has onions year-round, said Derek Ennis, the Raleigh, N.C.-based grower-shipper’s sales director for potatoes and onions.
“We are very excited about our year-round onion program,” he said. “We believe L&M’s ability to offer year-round onions continues to truly set us apart.”
Several factors enhance the year-round program, Ennis said.
“First, we’re one of only a handful of suppliers that has a California program that provides a new crop of onions when the rest of the country is still pulling from storage or importing from Mexico,” he said.
“We own both the land and the storage facility in the California program, where we harvest from mid-April through late May.”
Second, L&M entered into an exclusive marketing agreement in 2018 with New Mexico-based grower-shipper Billy the Kid Produce LLC in New Mexico, Ennis said.
“This partnership allows us to offer onions from late May through mid-August,” he said.
L&M also has a Kansas program that begins harvesting in August, Ennis said.
“We’re the only company with a Kansas program, and this is important because it allows us to save our customers miles and keep their turns fresher due to the faster transit time,” he said.
“We’re building momentum with that program with our customers in Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, Texas and the Midwest.”
L&M also is offering local produce to its Southeast retailers with the company’s North Carolina onion program, Ennis said.
“Flatland Ag Inc., out of eastern North Carolina, provides us with a four- to six-week program of locally grown onions from June 1 to July 4,” Ennis said.
“This presents us with a really unique opportunity for our East Coast customers who are continually looking for local-grown offerings.”
