UK: No more tears with new sweet onion variety

About 25 years ago, Alistair Findlay, a producer under the British farming cooperative Bedfordshire Growers took part in a study-tour to America, where sweet onions account for about 20% of all onions sold. “He came back with the idea of breeding his own coloured sweet onions, because there were none suitable in the market,” according to Managing Director Stephen Hedderly.

"The next 22 years were spent testing, analysing and reproducing onions, with complete dedication and enthusiasm to get this product out,” states Stephen. “This has led to the launch of a red sweet onion in an exclusive agreement; we’ve got 40 tonnes this season and we should more than double that next year.”

The main advantage of sweet onions is their reduced pungency, which prevents tears when slicing. “In the Pyruvate scale, which goes from 0 to 10, standard onions stand at around 5 and above; to be considered sweet, the product needs to be below 5, and ours, in independent tests, stands between 2 and 4,” affirms Stephen.

"In addition to this low pungency, the onion is characterised by its sweetness, a great juice flow and an amazing crunch and texture, with thick segments within the onion and thus a really nice bite,” explains Stephen. “In the UK market, it is currently marketed by ASDA in 500 gram packs and retails at 99 pence.”

The British market still offers great potential for growth, as sweet onions currently account for a mere 0.8% share. Stephen believes that the reasons for this are “Firstly, that most sweet onions are imported, secondly, that you won’t find anything other than brown varieties, and thirdly, that they are mostly sold loose or with a small label with no usage information, so there’s no way of getting information over to the consumer about what makes this onion special or what they should do with them.”

To rectify this, we have put a lot of emphasis on pack information, explaining to the consumers what makes these Onions different to standard onions. Again lessons from the states show that more the information for the consumer the better.

While the company also has a Sweet pink onion variety in production, which should be ready for trials in 2016, for now, however, “the important thing is to launch this new product, ensure we maintain quality consistency and understand and analyse the shopping habits of the consumers that buy into the variety. The potential for export is great with a huge amount of interest from the states and across Europe.

For more information:
Stephen Hedderly
Bedfordshire Growers
Tel: +44 (0) 1767 312403
Email: stephen.hedderly@bedgrow.co.uk