Haun Packing on track for good 2013-14 onion season
Haun Packing on track for good 2013-14 onion season
Early September onion crop assessments by Herb Haun, general manager of Haun Packing in Weiser, ID, indicated good quality and size range.
Haun said, “We started shipping Aug. 19, which is about normal timing for us, and we’ll go into storage starting mid-September. The onions look very good, very mature, and we also have a good range of sizes with plenty of jumbos. The colossals are tighter than they have been, though.”
Record heat during the summer accounts for the smaller volumes of colossals, he said, and yields are also affected by the dry, cold spring.
When asked if he was seeing an increase in retail sales, Haun said that the trend seems to be “going back more to foodservice.”
He added, “Demand is shifting back a little to foodservice, and we’re seeing slightly reduced demand at retail now.”
The longtime Idaho grower has 90 percent of his Spanish Sweet volume in yellow varieties, with 10 percent split between reds and whites, heavy to the reds.
“We think we may see more medium reds this season,” Haun said, noting that the grower side of the operation “always tries new varieties every year.”
Haun Packing is a second-generation, family-owned operation and packs for its own farm as well as for outside growers.
This season marks the third that food safety is overseen at Haun Packing by Laura Molina, who conducts classes for both shed and farm employees. The facility and farm are USDA GAP-compliant, and all onions are tested by Certified Onions Inc. for chemical residue and for pathogens.