Whether they’re grilled, chopped up and tossed into a salad or paired with warm-weather favorites like tomatoes, cucumbers or melons, onions can play a leading role in spring and summer meals. Grower-shippers say supplies should be plentiful and quality should be top-notch as warmer weather approaches.
Facts and Figures
The National Onion Association estimates that about 30% of U.S.-grown onions are sold during the spring-summer season. Total U.S. onion production during 2025, including onions for hydration, was about 8.2 billion pounds, according to Statista, a global data aggregator.
Though no official forecasts have been issued for 2026, Greg Yielding, NOA’s executive vice president, expects volume to be similar or slightly lower this year compared with 2025.
“So far, production on spring-summer onions looks very good,” Yielding said in early May.
Southern California, Georgia, New Mexico and Texas are the main producers of onions at this time of year, he adds.
The Onion House
It’s been a good year so far for Weslaco, Texas-based The Onion House LLC, which grows onions in Texas from March into May and in Mexico during the summer, says salesman Colton Neuhaus.
“We’ve had outstanding quality this year,” he says. “We’ve been really happy with it.”
The growing season in Texas and Mexico was dry, but it got wet at harvest time.
“We had a little bit of a tough harvest season, but it’s something that we could work around,” Neuhaus says. “We didn’t lose any acres.”
The company grows red, white and yellow onions and sells for growers in Colorado and Utah.
The Onion House, which is known for its Texas 1015 sweet onions available from March through April, offers onions year-round, except during July and August.
Little Bear Produce
Sweet onions are by far the most popular ones from Edinburg, Texas-based Little Bear Produce, according to Jeff Brechler, sales manager.
The company grew sweet onions and red, yellow and white varieties in Texas this year. Its Texas and Georgia programs were expected to wind down by late May and transition to California shortly.
“Quality overall was very good,” Brechler says. “Whites were exceptional this year.”
Little Bear Produce’s volume was similar to last year.
Peri & Sons Farms
Yerington, Nev.-based Peri & Sons Farms grows a wide range of premium and certified USDA organic onions, including white, yellow, red and sweet varieties, as well as specialty offerings such as cipollinis, shallots, garlic and its Sweetie Sweet onions, says Kelsey Weingart, brand manager for marketing.
“Yellow onions are consistently our highest-volume seller, but we have seen strong and growing interest in our sweet and organic lines as home cooking and culinary curiosity continue to drive consumer behavior,” she says.
The company recently finished its Nevada storage onions and transitioned to Southern California.
“Between our Nevada and California growing regions and our climate-controlled storage facilities, we maintain a steady, reliable supply no matter the season,” Weingart says.
Though Nevada delivered a strong fall harvest with excellent quality, California was a different story.
“Cooler, cloudier weather slowed development and pushed our harvest timeline later than expected,” she says.
The Nevada crop held up well in storage, though, so customers did not feel a gap in this situation.
“Now that we are in California, we are encouraged by what we are seeing,” Weingart says.
Shuman Farms
Reidsville, Ga.-based Shuman Farms, a year-round grower-packer-shipper of sweet onions out of Vidalia and Peru, is known for its RealSweet and Mr. Buck’s Farm Fresh brands, says John Shuman, president and CEO.
“Our fresh harvest window for Vidalia typically begins in early April and runs through late May, depending on weather,” he says. “Quality looks good so far for our conventional and organic Vidalia onions, and we expect to ship Vidalia onions through at least Labor Day.”
Shuman Farms also offers its RealSweet Rubies sweet red onions from late April through July, while supplies last, he adds.
Conventional and organic Peruvian sweet onions usually are available from September through early spring, after Vidalia season wraps up, Shuman says.
Pack Options
Grower-shippers typically provide onions in a wide range of pack sizes, and the varieties and packaging buyers request can vary.
“Every customer is different,” says Neuhaus of The Onion House.
Many customers order one of everything, he says, while another might ask for a load of jumbo yellows, for example.
“An important part of this deal is knowing your customers and knowing what they’re looking for,” he says.
The Onion House offers “just about any pack style,” Neuhaus says, including 2-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 25- and 50-pound bags, 40-pound cartons and bins with all colors and sizes.
About 80% of the firm’s onion sales are in bulk, down from 90% before the COVID-19 pandemic, Neuhaus says.
Little Bear Produce offers all the traditional SKUs, Brechler says.
Those include 40-pound cartons, 25- and 50-pound sacks and 3- and 5-pound consumer bags. About 30% of the company’s sweet onions are sold in consumer bags, he says.
Shuman Farms packs in a variety of carton and bag sizes to meet the needs of its retail and foodservice partners, Shuman says.
“Bulk sweet onions still account for the majority of our sales, but our percentage of bag business has increased substantially since the COVID pandemic,” he says.
