Onion supplies continue to get tighter across North America.
“There are not a whole lot of onions out there,” says Jessica Peri of Peri & Sons Farms in Yerington, Nev. “The Northwest—Washington, Idaho and Oregon--are starting to see supplies in the hands of fewer shippers. I know quite a few shippers are done this week and we’re done in Nevada.”
She also adds that the Texas and El Centro regions are about to start shipping however acreage is down in both areas and weather has not been favorable. “In El Centro there’ve been some colder temperatures there and warmer and some of the crop is bolting,” adds Peri. “I have heard that overall it’s a concern in the El Centro area. The wet and cold weather in Texas has affected the quality of their crop as well.”
Availability across colors seems to vary. Yellow is in decent supply. “But I think we’re going to see prices start to increase because the Northwest will have fewer supplies,” says Peri. Meanwhile reds are predicted to become in short supply and white onion pricing and availability should stabilize with offerings from Baja and Chihuahua in addition to Texas and El Centro.
Pricing differences
The prices on the onions vary as well. “There’s a big divide on yellow pricing--Texas is $15-$16 FOB for a 50-lb. bag whereas the Northwest is still around $9-$10. I think prices will continue to go up on red onions because they’re going to be in short supply. They’re already in the mid to high $20 range and I don’t know if they’ll stay there or creep up,” says Peri. “And white onion pricing spiked in March and have remained high since then. They went to $60 and I think we’ll see prices fall a bit. They’ll still be high, probably in the mid-$20s to low $30s, but they’ll be stable because we’ll have enough supplies.”
Viva Fresh
Onions will be on Peri’s mind when she attends the Viva Fresh in San Antonio, TX from April 25-27, a key show for the company to attend. “We do a lot of business in Texas, especially out of our storage crop in Nevada,” she says. “We primarily grow white onions and that’s a big mover in Texas. We like to go to Viva Fresh and connect and support our customers and go out to the stores. And we also like this event because it’s still small.”
For more information:
Jessica Peri
Peri & Sons Farms
Tel: +1 (775) 463-4444
jessicaperi@periandsons.com
http://www.periandsons.com/