With new package and freight options for customers, Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Eagle Eye Produce is looking at the start of its yellow onion harvest in mid-August, with red and white onion harvest about two to three weeks after that, says Dallin Klingler.
“Our acreage this year is about identical to previous years,” said Klingler, marketing and communications director. “We have seen data that suggests that acreage throughout the valley has declined slightly, but we do not expect supplies to be down much from previous years.”
The growing season in Idaho and eastern Oregon started slowly with a cold, wet and breezy spring, followed by mild weather in the early summer.
“Our onions progressed nicely after the challenging spring,” he said. “Things have really started to heat up now, but as long as it stays cool at night, which it has so far, our onions should keep making headway.”
Elevated markets
The USDA reported the average fob price for Idaho-eastern Oregon onions was $13 per package in early August, up about $3 per package the same time last year. The 2021-2022 marketing season saw prices climb well over $19 per carton in mid-March.
“The most challenging part of the past onion season was meeting demand after a challenging growing season led to tighter supplies throughout the Pacific Northwest,” Klingler said. “This season’s supply should go a lot further in meeting demand.”
Eagle Eye Produce offers yellow, red and white onions from facilities in eastern Oregon and western Idaho, Klingler said. “We offer everything from small retail packs to 50-pound bags and bulk bins with year-round availability,” he said, noting that the company grows, packs and ships its own supply.
“Quality, sizing and yield all look promising,” he said. “We are grateful to have fantastic growing partners who have faced the growing challenges this year and have turned out a great crop despite the challenges.” Strong market prices have helped growers deal with higher input costs, Klingler said.
“We hope the market will remain strong moving forward,” he said.
Investing in logistics
Over the past year, Klingler said the company has focused on bringing freight in-house by purchasing more long-haul trucks and trailers, and growing its transportation and logistics teams.
“We now have a fleet of over 80 trucks and a dispatch and support team throughout the country to meet our customer’s needs,” he said. “Produce buyers nowadays like suppliers who can do it all, and we have never been in a better position to meet our customers’ expectations.”
Small pack growth
As part of the company’s focus to bring on new small-pack business, Eagle Eye recently started shipping Harvest Select onions with individual price look-up labels for the company’s retail partners.
“We can now pack everything from 2-pound bags all the way up to the traditional bulk bags and bins,” Klingler said. “We are committed to continue to meet our customer’s needs through innovative packaging.”
Klingler said the company has placed a bigger emphasis on growing its small pack and retail business.
“We have made big in-roads into building out our supply base by bringing on new growers, new packing sheds and innovating within our facilities, and feel like our consistency and quality [have] never been better,” he said.
At the same time, Klingler said Eagle Eye has seen foodservice demand has recovered and is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
“Some of our foodservice partners are even exceeding pre-pandemic levels, which is great to see,” he said.
