New York:
Michelle Gurda with A. Gurda Produce in Pine Island told us that demand this week is “moderate.” She said A. Gurda is seeing good increase in movement for the upcoming holidays, and she noted that demand for sizing and colors is “about the same.” Michelle noted, “The market is flat right now, and we don’t see anything going up at this point.”
Idaho-Eastern Oregon:
Steve Baker with Baker Packing in Ontario, OR, told us, “Demand was good the past week and the beginning of this week. I’m sure increased demand is due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The medium yellow size is still at higher prices than the larger sizes. I can see the medium yellow market staying higher than the larger sizes at least until the end of the calendar year. The market has seemed to bottom out. We are talking slightly higher prices for this week.” Steve also said he has heard Japan is “looking to book onions out of Washington soon.” He said, “We need increased export business to help built some confidence in the onion market.”
Tiffany Cruickshank at Snake River Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us the market is “slightly better this week.” She said, “Thanksgiving movement is good, and we’ve seen a little firming up of the market.” Tiffany also told us that although there “seems to be a shortage of medium yellows in the Valley, we’re seeing a lot of jumbo demand.” And, she said, all colors are moving well.
Nevada:
Cindy Elrod at Peri & Sons in Yerington told us, “It has been a crazy week for business due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Our shipments for this season are 28 percent higher than last season.” Cindy also said that all Peri onions in Nevada are undercover. “Storages have been estimated and tallied,” she said. “Once we get past the Thanksgiving push to fill ads, we’ll slow production as everything is manageable for the balance of the season.” She said that size profile “seems to be larger than last season overall.” Peri expects to have conventional product through March and organic product through mid-March. “Sweetie Sweet and Organic Sweetie Sweet will finish mid-December, and then we’ll move into our Peri & Sons Sweet for the balance of the season,” Cindy said. “Prices are steady for yellows and reds, but we are seeing a slight push upward for the whites. Now that all growing regions have product in storage, we’re hoping we can raise prices on various varieties as demand permits. We’re working to make this crop and season profitable.”
California:
Gerry Valois with Western Onion in Camarillo, CA reports that they are finished with the Cuyama, CA crop. Onions available through Western Onion are coming out of the King City area and they expect to have availability of yellows and reds until March. The company is also marketing some Northwest onions. Gerry told OnionBusiness.com that the size profiles are larger, but noted that pricing is better for their smaller onions right now. Gerry commented that Western Onion has export business to Central America.
Washington:
Brenden Kent with Sunset Produce in Prosser told OnionBusiness.com that so far this week demand is moderate. Last week the orders started picking up on Thursday and Friday, he said, but then slowed down slightly at the first of this week. “I have seen this in the past where buyers have waited until the last minute to make Thanksgiving purchases,” Brenden said. He noted that demand for white onions in all colors and sizes has been very strong, and demand for reds is also good. Larger yellows continue to be a bit slow. Kent said that he expects exports to pick up in the next several weeks, and that should help the market, but right now the market for larger yellows is about as low as it can go. He commented that if shippers start refusing rock bottom price orders, the market should turn around.
Western Colorado/Utah:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said the market remains low overall. He said that cold weather will affect quality of what has not been brought in yet, adding, “Once everybody is all in and shipping out of storage, we might see the price going up by 50 cents. Stranger things have happened.” Don Ed said Onion House “had a pretty good Thanksgiving pull last week, and business is up a little this week. We’re looking for opportunities to push the market up.” The Onion House is still set to ship Colorado and Utah onions through mid-January, he said. “Both deals were a little less in volume, and we’ll finish up a bit earlier.”
Colorado:
John Harris with Paradigm Fresh in Fort Collins and Denver said on Nov. 15, “This market stinks. The jumbo yellow appears to be in trouble for the foreseeable future. The medium yellow market is in better shape for the time being. Time will tell if it might pick up a little. The white onion market is pretty steady and is the one bright spot. The red onion market is sporadic but generally depressed as well on medium and jumbo size.”
