Washington onion crop looking strong for F.C. Bloxom Co.

The Washington onion crop for Seattle-based F.C. Bloxom Co. is on track for a strong year, says William F. Bloxom, an owner of the company.

The company markets supply from both Walla Walla sweet onion growers and storage onion growers in the Columbia Basin of Washington.

Total Washington onion acreage is about the same as last season but yields and sizing will be much better, Bloxom said. Growing conditions have been optimal so far this season for the storage onions with a wet spring and good summer heat that hasn’t consistently been above 100 degrees F, he said.

“So far it looks like sizing will be heavy to jumbo and yields should be good,” Bloxom said. “Two seasons ago we had a long period of temperatures above 100 [degrees] that stunted the crop and produced small onions and smaller yields. Last season we had a very wet and cold spring into early summer that also reduced size and yields."

The company offers yellow, red, white, sweet onions and shallots, and also is organic certified, he said.

In mid-July, the company was still shipping Walla Walla sweet onions under its Bella label, with good volume and excellent quality.

Direct-seeded storage onions should start around the week of July 31, Bloxom said.

“Yields should be good, so there should be good volumes to move, which should also stabilize the market compared to the last couple of years,” he said.

Bloxom said the company has a variety of packaging options for onions. In addition, the company has a repack facility in Seattle that can recondition any rejected product, which can be sent back to the receiver or resold in the Seattle market.  

In related news, Bloxom said the company is sourcing quality Spanish and Peruvian onions for export business to other countries when domestic onion markets are high and the dollar is too strong to land domestic product at competitive pricing.