Peter Ng in the field
From 2007
Peri&Sons Farms has a total production of 170,00 tonnes of onions per year. Besides the cultivation in Nevada, the company started cultivation in California to be able to supply its customers with the total assortment in the months April to August as well. “Our founder, David Peri, keeps a close eye on the whole process of planting, irrigating, harvesting by hand, sorting, storage and packaging. We are convinced that the onions from California meet the same high quality standards as we are used to in Nevada,” says Peter. The company has been GLobalGAP certified for years and received the Sustainably Grown certificate from SCS Global Services, one of the first North American cultivation companies to do so.
Don't compete with Holland
Although Peri&Sons supplies the most onions on the domestic market by far, the export of onions has also become an important branch. “We can’t compete against the huge onion export from a country such as the Netherlands, but our advantage is that certain destinations have a preference for our large sizes of onions. Think Latin and South American, Middle Eastern countries and ports of Southeast Asia. There is also always demand for North American onions from Japan, but this country also always has local production and competition from China is lurking.”
Costs
The onion company produces around 170,000 tonnes of onions per year. They are harvested by hand, individually. “But due to the increasing cost of labour the industry in California will soon have to switch to mechanical harvest,” Peter expects. The labour costs aren’t the only challenge. “The water shortage on the West Coast is pressing and is a danger to the onion industry. The logistical costs here are also especially high. To have a reefer truck drive from the West to the East Coast, it can cost more than 8,000 dollars. They are now working on developing a rail service, which can offer a cheaper alternative in the future.”
This year the harvest isn’t too big as a result of the weather conditions. The onion market also characterises itself in the United States by high peaks and dips. “This is a big challenge. Our advantage is that we supply large retailers such as Walmart and Costco. We grow a volume that our customers need and are less dependent on the day to day trade. We want to supply quality at all times. This has led to us now being one of the largest seed to store operations in the onion world,” says Peter.
For more information:
Peter Ng
Peri & Sons
1-805-4073663
www.periandsons.com