Onion supplies are short right now. “Generally speaking, supplies by region so far are average or just slightly below average with the exception of the Treasure Valley which is Idaho-Eastern Oregon,” says John Harris of Paradigm Fresh. “They are severely short--probably down 25-30 percent. There were a lot of acres lost due to poor growing conditions in the spring.”
At the same time demand has been steady with a good Thanksgiving push in the last two weeks before the holiday. That said, in open market sales, the last two days have been more on the sluggish side. “This isn’t terribly surprising. It’s not unusual to be a little quieter leading up to Thanksgiving and a quieter a little bit after,” says Harris.
All of this means pricing on yellow onions has hit a historical high for this time of year. However, with input costs also being at an all-time high, the return to the growers isn’t necessarily historically high but rather the FOB market is stronger than usual because it has to be.
Average red market
“However, the red market is average. It’s actually a little lower than I was expecting it to be. I expected it to be $2 higher than it currently is. White pricing is generally very good and very steady and we haven't had many changes in the market on white prices for two months now,” says Harris.
He anticipates that between now and the first of the year, pricing, volume and availability will remain fairly steady, though markets may fluctuate somewhat between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “Historically speaking, there’s that lull in demand after Thanksgiving and prices might reflect that lower demand,” Harris says. Then, as Christmas volume picks back up around December 10th, prices will strengthen again and stay so until the first of the year.
As for supplies, while they remain in good shape for now, come March, onion shortages will be a reality. “Once we get the crop report the first of the year, that will determine where prices and markets go for the first quarter of 2023. I expect the yellow price to increase,” says Harris. “We haven’t seen it currently but the red supplies might be a bit shorter than people realize so the first of the year might see an uptick in the red market as well. The white market will stay steady because we’ll have the influx of Mexican product coming in.”
For more information:
John Harris
Paradigm Fresh
Tel: +1 (970) 775.2049
John@paradigmfresh.com
www.paradigmfresh.com