Figures from Stats NZ last week show brown onions are about 72 cents per kg more than at this time last year, with red onions being even dearer. Apart from this, fruit and vegetable prices have also jumped 17 percent more than last year.
Lance Roper, founder of Roper & Son Limited, who usually produces between 500-800 tons of peeled red onions a year said the weather has played a massive part in New Zealand’s onion shortage: “Because of the weather we have had in the last 8-12 months, the onions didn’t grow as well as they could’ve which made it difficult to harvest quality onions. We’re into our importing season at the moment and we have had to order a lot more from the United States than we usually do,” said Roper.
He added that there will be new onion seeds in New Zealand come December but there will be no volume until halfway through January. The Canterbury region tends to flourish almost two months later than Pukekohe, says Roper.
Source: nzherald.co.nz