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Onion Market Update 1/24/2023
By John Harris
Good Morning. I’d say Happy New Year, but it’s February next week already! Where does the time go?!?
The market up to this point has probably gone in the exact opposite direction that most of us thought or most certainly hoped that it would. Supplies are very low, but somehow the market has eroded since the first of the year began almost exclusively across the board, probably with the exception of super and colossal yellows.
Demand is steady at best for the most part. Some days are active and others are just completely void of activity. Daily shipments would indicate it is busier than what it actually feels like in my opinion. With just over 100 loads of Mexican product imported in the last week, that probably has some influence on the feel of things. The Mexican product coming across is maybe a tad early, but nothing too out of the norm and volume will only increase over the coming weeks from them. So far the pictures I’ve seen of the early fresh crop looks nice and all three colors should be available out of McAllen, Texas by the end of the week.
Yellows – I’m just completely shocked by this, but the market has lost some footing. Colossals are still tight and pretty expensive, but mediums and jumbos have been all over the place. I really believe that lack of demand has trumped lack of supply and has been the cause of the market erosion. I continue to expect to see it climb back up, but with Mexican product coming on now, that just may not happen.
Whites – Same boat as the yellows, except to a larger degree as the market was at a much higher starting point. Gradually over the last month, we’ve seen this market slip as much as 25%. Whites are a completely different market than yellows. We could see the entire thing come off another 25% and then soar back up in mid-March. If I had to predict, I’d say we’ll continue to see the market come off for a bit and then in mid-March or so, we will see it climb back up.
Reds – The red market has also shifted down slightly. I might be the most confused about this market. There were so many small reds this year, that tonnage just has to be down. At some point this spring, I still feel like the lack of tonnage out there is eventually going to catch up and this market is going to make a comeback. For now, reds seem to be mostly plentiful in all sizes.
Have a great week and we’ll catch up again in a couple weeks.
Editors Note: John Harris is the president and founder of Paradigm Fresh and Colorado Cold Connect in Fort Morgan, Colorado. He can be reached at John@paradigmfresh.com.
