The Onion House has an early start out of the gate
The Onion House has an early start out of the gate
With just a single week of wintry weather and solid markets heading into the heart of the deal, The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, is primed for an excellent Texas onion season.
“The Texas crop is coming a little early. We normally start between the 20th and 25th of March but it looks like we’ll have onions here probably the 12th,” said Don Ed Holmes. “The weather has just been perfect. There was one week in there you could actually call winter and that was it, the first week of January. Prior to that it was unusually warm and since then it’s been a little above average so we’re looking at a little early start.”
Texas constantly worries about water supplies and an ongoing drought does not help that. Water quality in onion-growing areas is also a concern that may affect size.
The Onion House last year acquired rights to the fabled Griffin-Brand ‘Sweet Senorita’ label. (Photo courtesy of The Onion House)“The yields will be off from a year ago but the quality looks real good,” Mr. Holmes said. “Overall size could be a shade smaller because we haven’t had enough water in the reservoirs and the water quality is fairly poor. There’s a lot of salt in the water which may penalize you on your size a little bit. But we’re still looking at the main season starting somewhere around the 25th of March and going through April with some pretty good volumes.
With Northwest supplies dwindling and Mexico pinched due to weather and other factors, the market has been solid. Despite a dip in late February due to a late Mexican rally, the market has been firm and Mr. Holmes believes it will remain that way.
“The market’s taking a little adjustment here right now, Mexico’s picked up a little volume at the end of the month —which is kind of the wrong time to pick the volume up as far as Texas growers are concerned — which led to some little lighter prices,” Mr. Holmes said March 1. “My own opinion is the crop down there is not a big crop and I think the market will adjust itself.”
Last year, The Onion House acquired the rights to a famous brand name from Texas onion history, the “Sweet Senorita” label once held by Griffin-Brand. Salesman Chuck Hill, a longtime veteran of the industry, joined the team two years ago, driving sales along with Mr. Holmes and Steve Roach.
“Steve’s been in the business over 15 years, I’ve been in it 35, Chuck’s been in it 38,” Mr. Holmes said. “Between the three of us we bring a lot of experience to the table.”
