Washington:
Washington:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla reported that the company’s Washington hybrid program had very good Thanksgiving sales. Though demand after Thanksgiving dropped off some, which Dan said is normal, Keystone is already starting to see pre-orders for the Christmas holiday season. Dan also reported the market as steady with good supply and good quality.
Nevada:
Cindy Elrod at Peri and Sons in Yerington told us, “Business continues to be good. We are on target with our shipments and storages to finish packing in March. Pricing remains is steady.”
Idaho-Eastern Oregon:
Dan Phillips at Central Produce in Payette, ID, said there hasn’t been much change in the market this week over the last couple of weeks. He said though there are a lot of onions on the market, Central Produce has created its own floor on pricing and are holding. “We are just not going to pack at lower prices,” Dan said. He added that going forward Central hopes to sell a good deal of onions in December so that it can begin a push upward in pricing for January. Dan described demand for all sizes and colors as normal, and movement is the same. Though supplies aren’t large on mediums, Central does have all sizes and colors available. He also mentioned that this week transportation is very tight.
Sally Symms at Symms Fruit Ranch in Caldwell, ID, reported the company just started packing a couple of weeks ago, and she said they’re seeing good quality. Symms has medium reds and medium to jumbo yellows available. Sally said the market last week was a bit soft, but this week there seems to be some improvement and it appears to be firming up. On transportation, booking freight has been easier than last week, Sally added. “As long as we find trucks early in the week, we have better luck,” she said.
Northern Colorado:
Bob Sakata at Sakata Farms in Brighton told OnionBusiness.com that recently released figures show national inventory to be slightly less than this time last year. “The numbers show that a year ago we had a little more in storage, and what’s left now should be marketable at a decent price,” Bob said. “But the prices are not coming up. Some areas are having truck issues, and we had hail damage and can’t grade for the shortage. It’s been a terrible year.”
Michigan:
Jon Meyer with Ohio-based Market Brothers reported from his Michigan office that the market has been steady, and they are actually edging up on pricing. Market Brothers has had very good demand on medium yellow prepacks and has good supplies of medium red, he said. “We had Great Thanksgiving sales, and we are already starting to sell for Christmas starting this week.” Jon also said freight has been steady with no issues.
Peru:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, WA, reported the market for Keystone’s Peruvian sweet onions is steady. “Actually, the demand and market for our Peruvians is doing better than our hybrids right now,” Dan said. “Our supplies are great, and the quality of the Peruvian sweets is very good.” He also reported an uptick for the Christmas holidays for the sweet onion program.
