Peru: Sweet onion season comes to an end

The Peruvian sweet onion season is coming to an end, and despite the impact of El Niño, it has been satisfactory for the producer KeyPerú. "It's been a good season. We didn't achieve the yield we expected, but the quality is excellent," explains Miguel Ognio, of KeyPerú. "The climatic conditions have been good, although not excellent, because we had to deal with El Niño, and the weather has been quite irregular. The country's highlands have also been affected by rain and snow."

KeyPerú only exports Peruvian mild-flavoured onions ("Sweet Onions"). Sweet onions are the most demanded in foreign markets, mainly in the United States, which receives 70% of the total exports. The rest goes to destinations in Europe, especially the Netherlands. It also has good markets in Spain and Latin America.

The season kicks off in August and lasts until January. Competition is always a concern; however, according to Ognio, "the other onion producing countries do not have the water, climate and land needed to grow this type of mild-flavoured onion that is pleasant to the palate, does not affect you breath and allows for a very smooth digestion" For now, the main concern is to ensure that Peru continues investing in the development of its infrastructure to further facilitate agro-business exports to the world.