Why are onions suddenly so expensive?

[visciole]

It seems to me that onion prices have shot up recently. Loose they're $2 a pound, $3 for red onions at the regular stores. A few months ago they were half that. Does anyone know why? Just curious!

[toodie jane]

Try shopping at Hispanic markets. I find nearly everything cheaper there.

[2chez mike]

Yes, I've noticed. Yellow onions that are usually 4-6 pounds for a dollar at Jon's Market(Los Angeles) are now a dollar or more a pound. Two dollars a pound at Ralph's and similar chains.

[cajundave]

I have had trouble just finding white onions. I don't like yellow onions. Maybe they are grown in different places?

[aynrandgirl]

The Onion Futures Act, passed in 1958, bans the trading of futures contracts in onions, hence the wild volatility in onion prices.

[visciole]

Who knew?? You did, which is one of the reasons I love CH'ers.

I considered myself lucky to get a 2-lb bag of medium-crappy yellow onions yesterday for $1.99.

When will this MADNESS end?? ;)

[QSheba]

Yikes! Still $0.77/lb here in IL for loose Vidalias and $3 for a 5lb bag of small yellow onions.

[gordeaux]

There might be some hope. I'm in the Chicago area - near west burb. One store has them for 2.49/lb, but another one down the street has those two pound mesh bag of white onions for 1.29 per bag. Hopefully they are coming back down to normal pricing.

[coll]

As of yesterday, Spanish onions are wholesaling at 50 cents a pound, which is half the price of a couple of weeks ago. So I guess it's easing up but still expensive, usually around 35 cents.

[Eldon Kreider]

When the price dam broke on new-crop white onions at a couple of our ethnically oriented produce stores in Chicago (talking 30-some cents per pound), the onions were really strong and aromatic. The yellow onions grown for storage generally have not been as strong as these.

[coll]

It's coming down fast, there was some kind of flooding, in Texas maybe? One thing to remember, when a produce's price is high, there was some kind of weather problem at the source and the quality will be subpar, so avoid unless necessary. Produce is not manufactured and it's up to Nature what happens in the fields.

[visciole]

Thanks for all the information. Generally speaking, I can avoid high priced and subpar produce; but I cannot avoid onions! I gotta have them. But I agree with nothingswrong: the yellow onions at my local organic store are the same price and look much nicer, so I'm buying them there for the time being.

[rednails]

I'm in the Bay Area and found onion prices high at my local farmer's market, 2x what I usually pay. No flooding here, just our usual winter weather, except for less rain than needed. Debates abound as to whether our drought is really over.

[redpeach]

What planet do you live on. Rainfall is 140% of normal this year in Calfornia. I would call that the end of a drought.

Word is that an excess of rain has damaged the California onion crop. We have experienced damage to our peach crop as well, because of wetter than normal weather, and unusually late rains and hail.

[goodhealthgourmet]

we've had a severe drought for several years now...a couple of unusually wet months with a few extra inches of rain doesn't negate that. reservoir levels are still well below average.

[rednails]

I live and work on planet Earth. You?

I work for a catering company, and we get weekly reports on produce pricing. I also read the news daily (first the old-fashioned way, hard copy and then on-line). I see frequent updates in the that we are not anywhere near what we need to get to be in a non-drought condition.

And thank you goodhealthgourmet for the back up.

[nofunlatte]

Not to mention that there is no single definition for drought. There are agricultural droughts, hydrological droughts, etc., and different indices are used to calculate them. I believe the National Weather Service issues information, which you can access online.

[nothingswrong]

Yes, my local grocery store actually had a sign up last week next to the onions saying it's the bad weather and that's why there are, like, four onions in the bin and they look gross and cost $4 a pound!

I was at an organic grocery store today though and they had a larger selection that was actually cheaper than Ralphs. So hopefully the prices are coming down soon...

[goodhealthgourmet]

lower crop yields due to bad weather...but i've read a couple of things that indicate prices are starting to coming down now - thanks to that same screwy weather, growers suddenly have a surplus to unload. let's hope!