Peru has favorable sweet onion growing season

“This time of the year, we grow and source our sweet onions primarily in Peru,” says Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing. The country’s harvest window roughly runs from early August through December. It is a long harvest season as the onion growing regions run from the coastal northern part of the country all the way to the coastal south. This distance is similar to a growing season that extends from Oregon State to Baja California.

In Peru, the growing conditions for onions have been good this season. Weather always plays an important role and potentially causes the biggest swings in yields. “Fortunately, the effects of El Niño on the country’s sweet onion crop have been limited this season. As predicted, El Niño is moving up north and as a result, the effects for the remainder of Peru’s sweet onions season are lessening as the season progresses,” shared Borer.

In the US on the other hand, El Niño’s effects were noticeable during this season’s summer and fall onion harvest. One of the first signs of El Niño is the warming of the Pacific Ocean. “In the Pacific Northwest, we had a dry and hot late summer,” said Borer. “It was kind of on the extreme end. Although onion yields were normal in the Pacific Northwest, heat may have affected the quality of onions going into storage. It is an unknown factor at this point, but we will find out as the storage season progresses.” 

Sweet onion prices are above average at the moment. “I believe there is some residual effect of last spring when Texas and Mexico were wiped out by rain. This resulted in a tight market and the lower supplies carried forward.” Borer believes demand will pick up in the next few weeks leading up to the holiday season. A 50 lb. sack of yellow Jumbo onions is in the $8 range FOB at the moment, which is a decent price. “Prices may go up further with increasing holiday demand,” closed Borer. 

For more information:

Dan Borer

Tel: (+1) 509 526 9200