Sweet Clover shipping super sweets, organics and hybrids
Sweet Clover shipping super sweets, organics and hybrids
The 2012 onion season has kicked into high gear with shipments of onions dubbed “super sweet” by Bill (Sweet Willie) Brownfield, Sweet Clover Produce Marketing director in Walla Walla, WA.
The onions tested at L-2 by AgSource of Umatilla, OR, Mr. Brownfield said July 17.
Sweet Clover Produce of Walla Walla, WA, is shipping organics, sweet yellows, Walla Walla Sweets and hybrids. (Photo courtesy of Sweet Clover Produce)“These are the sweetest onions we’ve ever grown,” he said of the yellows that are now shipping, along with organic reds and yellows, as well as conventional reds, whites and yellows.
The organics and organic sweets answer increasing demand by customers for certified organics, Mr. Brownfield said. The vertically integrated grower-marketer-shipper has increased its production again this year after doubling it in 2011. Mr. Brownfield said 2012’s direct-seeded organics started shipping mid-July and will run through May 2013.
He noted earlier in the season that Sweet Clover has organic yellows, organic sweet yellows and organic reds. Those complement Walla Walla Sweets, also shipping now, and yellow sweets in the operation’s year-round sweet onion program. Reds are also year-round.
In addition to organic certification, Sweet Clover has also attained certification for export to the European Union through an agreement struck by the United States and the EU earlier this year. Additionally, GSI Bar codes are on every onion sticker, and Sweet Clover provides complete traceability. Yellow, red, white, organic and certified sweet onions and all the Sweet Clover growers are third-party audited. Sheds are GAP-certified and are in compliance with state and federal food-safety protocol.
Packs include the Carry-Fresh mesh bags for all of Sweet Clover’s onions, including the signature Red Wing reds along with yellow hybrids, whites and organics.
The bags are available in two-, three- and five-pound sizes, and the company also offers a 25-pound specialty pack carton.
