Though the crop came in later than normal in 2011, there were plenty of namesake onions at the 27th Annual Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival held July 16 and 17 in downtown Walla Walla, WA.

Kathryn Fry-Trommald, marketing director for the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee, said Aug. 3 that the two-day event was a great spotlight for the onion, which is not only the region’s most famous crop but is also the Washington State Vegetable.

“Attendance was very good, and we estimate we had about 5,000 attendees over the weekend,” Ms. Fry-Trommald said.

Organic and sweet yellow onions direct-seeded in February and March are now being shipped by Sweet Clover Produce of Walla Walla, WA.

“We transitioned into our direct-seeded crop in late July,” said Bill (Sweet Willie) Brownfield, sales manager for Sweet Clover. Mr. Brownfield said July 27 that the new crop volume looks good, and supplies will run through April 2012.

“We’re shipping whites, reds, sweet yellows, sweet organics and yellow organics,” he said, adding that the organic volume is up significantly over last year.

At the beginning of 2012, Green Tree International will enter its fourth year as a distributor and broker of onions from the Pacific Northwest. Sales Associate Shea Nanto spoke to The Produce News from his office in Wenatchee, WA on Aug. 3.

“We’re getting excited to go full bore,” he said of coming activity.

The company has co-packing agreements in place and sources red, yellow and white onions from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

“We follow onions year-round,” Mr. Santo said. Onions from the Pacific Northwest are moved eight to nine months out of the year.

Consumers continue to clamor for sweet onions throughout the year. And Curry & Co., headquartered in Brooks, OR, is happy to keep them stocked and satisfied.

“Curry & Company has continued to see the benefits of providing certified sweet onions to our retailers,” President Matt Curry told The Produce News Aug. 5. “It’s important that our customers and the consumers know they’re getting a truly sweet onion each and every time.”

MIRABEL, QC - Mâche is up and coming within the 1.1 million square feet of greenhouse production for HydroSerre Mirabel Inc., located here. Beyond Mirabel, the company operates Quebec greenhouses in Drummondville, Victoriaville and St. Clotilde. This spring, the St. Clotilde facility doubled in size from its original 100,000 square feet of production.

While Boston lettuce has been common on North American tables for many years, its importance to greenhouse production is rising fast, according to Daniel Terrault, HydroSerre’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Veg Pro International Inc., which is headquartered in Sherrington, QC, is now offering three new individual lunch salads.

Sylvain Racette, the firm’s vice president of sales and marketing, said Aug. 4 that the salads were launched in early June in Canada at retailers Walmart Supercenter and Sobeys and the convenience store Couche-Tard.

The lunch salads “are off to a really good start,” Mr. Racette said.