U.S. annual consumption of onions jumped to 21.9 pounds per person in 2017, a 15 percent increase from 2016, according to numbers from the USDA. After being rather stagnant for the last decade, U.S. annual per capita onion consumption increased more in 2017 than it had in the previous eight years.
Consumption data coincides with a 2017 report from Datassential, which showed that the onion was the top vegetable at dining establishments in 2016, penetrating 93 percent of all establishments across the country and appearing in 12 percent of all dishes, a 26 percent increase since 2005.
“The American consuming public’s taste for onions has naturally grown as they learn about its outstanding nutrient value, health benefits, and varieties in tastes and cooking methods,” said Wayne Mininger, executive vice president of the National Onion Association.
