What growers are saying about the quality of onions this season
Grower-shippers say onion volume has inched upward this season, and plenty of good-quality onions should be available for the holidays and beyond.
“We’ve got additional volume, and we’re looking for opportunities to sell more customers with better volume and quality than we’ve had the last couple of seasons,” said Coleman Oswald, director of sales for Eagle Eye Produce, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Eagle Eye, which ships red, yellow and white onions, had completed its harvest by early November in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
“We’re very pleased with the quality that came out of the ground,” Oswald said.
The company has 15% to 20% more onions this year than last because of some additional acreage and good growing conditions.
Eagle Eye offers 2- 3- and 5- and 10-pound consumer packs for supermarkets as well as 8- and 10-pounders for club stores, along with and 25- and 50-pound bulk units for foodservice operators.
Yellow potatoes are the bestsellers followed by red and white varieties, but the company has plenty of all three colors, Oswald said. Sizing is “right where we want it to be.”
Potandon Produce in Idaho Falls offers red onions year-round, white onions seasonally and some Spanish onions from Ontario, said Joey Dutton, sales manager on key accounts and onion sales manager.
The company now is shipping onions from Idaho and Oregon and will source from Texas, New Mexico and California later on.
Dutton said quality is decent this season. There was some rain during the harvest, but it had minimal impact on the product.
Sizing is normal, Dutton said, and overall volume will be up a bit compared to last year because of an increase in acreage and good weather during the growing season.
Rexburg, Ohio-based Wilcox Fresh grows onions in west Idaho and east Oregon, said Derek Peterson, vice president of sales and operations.
The company has worked with several farming families for many years, he said.
“Onion quality looks amazing,” he said. “It’s been a good year so far.”
Size of the red, white and yellow onions also is good, he said, and volume is similar to last year.
The Parma, Idaho-based Idaho/East Oregon Onion Committee continues to promote onions far and wide, said Candi Fitch, executive director.
“Committee representatives will be traveling with Idaho’s governor on his trade mission to Mexico City in November, and in the spring, the committee will exhibit at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association Convention in Vancouver,” she said.
The committee hosted s VIP Buyers Mission to the Idaho-East Oregon onion area in October and exhibited at the IFPA Global Produce and Floral show in Anaheim, Calif.
Onion market prices are lower than they have been in the recent past because of heavy supplies and good quality, growers said, which means there is plenty of promotable volume available.
“The market’s a little off from last year, but we’ll be promoting potatoes and onions across the board,” Peterson said.
Wilcox Fresh will work with retailers and wholesalers on programs “to help drive volume and work for everybody,” he said.
Promotable volume was not available the past couple of years, he said. “It’s good to get back to a volume that we can do things to drive business and move everyone’s needle forward.”
Even a drop in the inflation rate won’t have an immediate impact on growers’ wallets, since they sell most of their crops out of storage, Oswald said.
“Even though prices may be stabilizing, they were higher when we planted, so we won’t see any savings on any inputs until next year’s plantings in the spring,” he said.
