Aussie onion consumers only have a matter of weeks to wait until the new Australian onion season comes online, kick-started by the northern Australian onion growers in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The majority of the southern Australian long-day onion crops were all harvested by mid-May and are currently supplied out of storage with supply dwindling, according to Onions Australia’s latest reports. Prices in the domestic markets as a result are increasing which in turn is likely to translate to increased farm gate price levels not seen since 2010.
Onions Australia Chair Kees Versteeg said the storage quality of the southern Australian onions season was affected due to unprecedented hot weather conditions earlier in their season resulting in lesser volumes of their onions being of a good enough quality to go in to storage for supply mid-May onwards. The effects are currently being felt with dwindling supply of good quality stored onions and prices moving upwards.
“A few Queensland growers have already started harvesting small volumes of their early season short-day onion varieties and in a matter of weeks Queensland growers will be in full swing with the first crops expected to be on the shelves late October,” Mr Versteeg said.
“Queensland growers are doing their utmost to get their onions into the stores at the earliest opportunity.
“It is heartening that both Australia’s major supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths have given a commitment to retail only Australian grown onions, and Onions Australia hopes that other retailers will take a similar position.”
“It is important to remember that those who import onions in the lead up to the Australian onion season only serve to undermine Australian growers.”
Mr Versteeg said Onions Australia had been in regular contact with the major retailers to ensure that they were aware of the supply situation, and the industry body would continue to carry out spot checks nationally to monitor imports
“There is no need to import, there will be plenty of great quality onions coming out of Queensland soon that will ease market conditions,” he said.
“The last thing we want to see is an influx of imported onions that will be incorrectly channelled through the supply chain as Australian onions (as we have seen in previous years), which not only undermines the hard work done by Australian onion growers to provide Australian consumers with safe, sustainable and fair produced great tasting onions but also deceiving the Australian consumers if these end up on the shelves deceitfully offered to the Australian consumer as Australian onions.”
For more information:
Kees Versteeg
Onions Australia Chair
Tel: 0488 494 911
CEO Lechelle Earl
Tel: 0458 11 11 26