The warm season is coming on in Peru, and its sweet onion crop is responding, suppliers say.
And just in time, because the Vidalia season came up short, they note.
“The (Peruvian) crop overall is doing pretty good,” said Delbert Bland, president of Glennville, Ga.-based Vidalia onion grower-shipper Bland Farms LLC, which imports Peruvian sweets.
The coronavirus pandemic has created labor shortages, among other issues that involve “driving, hauling back to the port” and restrictions on the number of workers allowed at port facilities, Bland said.
“It’s putting a strain on the system,” he said. “We’re getting by but it’s not easy.”
Meanwhile, the weather has cooperated during the onion-growing season, Bland said. But, he added, “the weather is always good” for onions.
The waning cold-weather season has presented the only difficulties, but they have been minor, Bland said.
“These first onions, the yield isn’t what it could be because it’s been kind of cool,” he said. “We don’t have the yield we’d like, but that will get better as we go along, I think.”
Temperatures have been cooler than normal, creating “an issue on yield,” Bland said. “But overall, it’s a good crop and quality overall.”
A short Vidalia onion crop this year prompted Bland Farms to ship its first Peruvian onions Aug. 1, or “a couple of weeks ahead of schedule,” Bland said.
Glennville-based Vidalia grower-shipper G&R Farms also pushed for earlier production, with “size issues” being the tradeoff, said Walt Dasher, co-owner.
Nevertheless, the crop has been “about normal,” Dasher said.
“Onions we are harvesting now are more to type but, of course, these onions will come to market in October,” Dasher said.
“Weather has been normal for the middle of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.”
As of Aug. 27, quality out of Peru was “excellent” and expected to continue for the run of the season, said Matthew Gideon, onion commodity manager with Greencastle, Pa.-based Keystone Fruit Marketing Co.
“Cooler weather slowed harvest initially, but as the season progresses in Peru, we expect good sizing and great yields,” Gideon said. “Our Mayan Sweets, imported from Peru, are known for the unique flat shape (and) sweet profile. We are excited that our crop is very marketable for everyone this year.”
That earlier-than-normal shipping involved sizing issues is no surprise, but the early start in Peru was necessary after a rain-shortened Vidalia season, said Barry Rogers, consultant with RogersAgro Inc., Melbourne, Fla., who also serves as a consultant with G&R Farms.
“It started as one of those things,” he said. “In February, they had a rain event that was like 19 inches (in the Vidalia region). You put onion bulbs in that, and watch out; onions are actually an arid-climate cultivar. You can have a half-inch of rain in February and ruin them.”
The combination of cool weather and an earlier schedule in Peru led to sizing issues, Rogers said.
“Of course, that means less boxes, less containers,” he said. “Is it significant? I don’t think so. I think it would be less significant if Georgia had a better crop, but Georgia had a 60% crop.”
Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Potandon Produce, which ships Peruvian onions under the Green Giant Fresh label, was well into its Peruvian deal by Aug. 24, said Mark Breimeister, sweet onion sales agent with Potandon and owner of Detroit-based Triple A Produce Exchange.
“We’re rolling right along right now,” Breimeister said. “I think the deal will have good volume to start, but I’m hearing the onions will be a smaller crop later in the season. We’re trying to stick some onions away now, just in case.”
Pricing should be strong throughout the deal because “we’re not going to have a ton of product,” Breimeister said.
As of Aug. 28, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 40-pound cartons of granex sweet onions out of Peru were $21-26. A year earlier, the same product was $20-22.
How short the crop is, no one knows, Breimeister noted.
“Those onions still have a long way to go,” he said. “In that part of the country, I don’t think the weather has been perfect for us, so we expect to see some shrink in the yield.”
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