Michael Locati, owner/operator of Mike Locati Farms Inc. in Walla Walla, Wash., has a good supply of onions to sell this season, and, as luck would have it, his sales focus has provided a degree of immunity against the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
That’s because he focuses on retail accounts, he said.
“We don’t have a large volume going to foodservice, so, fortunately, we have been OK because retail is our game,” he said.
The pandemic choked off foodservice sales because it forced eateries to close — or limit — their business activities, but it has not slowed onion demand, suppliers note.
“It’s a very strong market,” said Dan Borer, general manager for Keystone Fruit Marketing Inc. in Walla Walla.
“The two things causing it is shorter than normal supply and changing demand, based on the pandemic. So, for people like ourselves that are very heavy into retail, it has been very good business. If you are heavy into processing, and restaurants and institutions aren’t open, you’re probably suffering.”
The COVID-19 crisis has changed the way consumers shop, because it has altered “the way they’re eating and where they’re eating,” Borer said.
In other words, they are cooking and eating at home more than before, Borer said.
“Instead of going out and eating onion rings, they’re buying onions at the store and eating them at home,” he said.
“It has just changed where they’re eating, what they’re eating and where they’re shopping.”
For suppliers, that could be a boon or a curse, Borer said.
“I guess it depends on where you’re at, whether that’s a benefit or drawback,” he said.
The pandemic has not cut into onion demand, since onions are a staple item, Borer noted.
“For onions, it’s something people need to have,” he said. “There’s a lot of cultures that onions are one of the staples they eat. I think we’re seeing that in the onion use.”
After restaurants closed — or limited patrons to curbside or delivery services — during the initial stages of the pandemic, some markets began to ease some restrictions by early June, only to re-impose them by the end of the month.
Through all the ebbs and flows, onion sales have continued, Borer said.
“Business will remain strong on onions through the summer,” he said. “I don’t see huge changes that would change the market or demand.”
Bancroft, Wis.-based Russet Potato Exchange Inc. also noted rapid shifts in sales, said Mackenzie Mills, account manager.
“Initially we experienced a large spike in retail and a drop in foodservice,” she said.
“Foodservice business has slowly come back online and we are close to normal volumes again. Overall onion demand is excellent right now. With the USDA Farmers to Families box program we have seen a big jump in demand on medium onions and consumer packs.”
The pandemic, which swept across the U.S. in mid-March, did not affect plantings at Prosser, Wash.-based Bybee Produce LLC, said Jason Walker, general manager.
“We’re about the same as last season,” he said. “Once (the pandemic) hit, our acreage was already set. We had seed purchased, ground prepped, so we didn’t cut back.”
COVID-19 did leave its mark, though, Walker said.
“It had a pretty devastating effect on the onion market on the end of our season when it first hit,” he said.
How deep an impact the pandemic makes is anyone’s guess, Walker said.
“We’ll see as time moves on,” he said. “We just need restaurants to open back up and people get back to work.”
Once that happens, the onion business and produce “will respond, as well,” Walker said.
“Obviously, foodservice was hit pretty hard,” he said.
Retail accounts, by contrast, were stronger than normal, which provide a “kind of balancing effect for onion suppliers,” Walker said.
“As long as you had retail accounts, business has been OK,” he said.
That kind of “balancing effect” seemed to occur at Prosser, Wash.-based grower-shipper Sunset Produce LLC, said Brenden Kent, vice president.
“COVID has increased our retail demand by around 10-15% overall and probably reduced our foodservice demand by about the same number,” he said.
The pandemic had not appeared to affect Sunset’s export sales, at least through early July, Kent said.
“We have had increased interest in exports in recent weeks, which is encouraging,” he said July 10.
“Some of the countries we export to have not experienced the negative COVID effects like the U.S. has, so we look to move some of our onions offshore this year, for sure.”
Onion operations themselves have responded to the crisis, implementing an array of safety precautions, Bybee Produce’s Walker said.
“Our people and their health and safety is the top of our list of priorities, so we’re doing all we can to keep people healthy here, because we want them to work and provide for their families,” he said.
“Obviously, we need them to run our business. It’s definitely a concern that we’re watching every day. We’re trying to put things in place — social distancing, masks, PPE (personal protective equipment), gloves. It’s a concern, for sure.”
COVID-19 has increased retail demand for onions, said Bryon Magnaghi, Walla Walla-based produce trader with Seattle-based distributor FC Bloxom & Co.
“It has increased the demand for onions, with more people cooking at home, and also with the medium-sized onions,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program also has provided an important channel for some product, Magnaghi said.
“With the food box program, it seems to be taking care of all the medium-sized yellow onions,” he said.
Foodservice sales were still “lacking some,” but they were increasing by early July, Magnaghi said.
Whether the upturn would continue was a mystery, though, he said.
“Who knows what that will do if COVID continues on the path it’s on?” he said. “Foodservice may step back a bit; it’s hard to tell. It’s one day at a time with this COVID deal.”
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