Syracuse, Utah, May 4th, 2010—Utah Onions is proud to announce the addition of organics to its lineup of delicious onions starting this growing season. The grower-shipper will now be offering a variety of yellow, red, white and sweet organic onions, certified under the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) guidelines. The new organics line will solidify Utah Onions position as a full-service onion provider that caters to customers nationwide.
The organically-grown onions will be packaged in Prosser, Washington at Hartley’s Produce and will be available for shipment starting as early as September. The line-up will consist of jumbo and medium-sized red, white and sweet onions, and jumbo, medium and pre-pack yellow onions.
“Adding organics is something we have wanted to do for a while now. It is part of our integration strategy and will be one more thing we can extend to our customer base. When a customer calls with a request, like organics, I always want to be able to say “yes-we have that” and now we can. Our constant goal at Utah Onions is to accommodate the needs of our customers.” said Shawn Hartley, VP of Sales and Owner of Utah Onions. “The best part is that our organics line offers customers the superior quality and taste that they’ve come to expect from Utah Onions.” He comments.
Growing organic produce is not something a farm can jump into immediately. Growers must comply with each of the following standards: Land must be free of chemical inputs for at least 3 years prior to certification and farmers must exclude the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or genetic engineering. The certified operation must have an organic system plan and records that verify compliance with that plan. Operators are inspected annually; in addition there are random checks to assure standards are being met.
Although organic production will make up less than 5% of Utah Onions annual sales in the coming year, the company hopes that demand will steadily increase when customers find out they are now offering the produce.
Growth in the organic market has exceeded the expectations of industry experts with an increase of 11% each year since 2007 and an overall increase of 30-billion dollars since 1990, according to the Organic Trade Association Website.
“It may be a small segment for us right now, but we are hopeful that sales will grow each year just as the organic market as a whole has grown. Look for the new brands and packaging this season.” said Hartley.
Source: Utah Onions Inc.
