The Sweet Onion: Demand Grows for Rare Onions

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Demand grows for rare onions

As word of the savory product has spread, Daughtry, 41, and his wife, Debbie, 39, have cultivated a lively new market for their onions. It started when walk-in customers said they wished there was a way to get the onions to friends and relatives. The Daughtrys decided to try a mail-order venture in which they’d ship the onions in 10-pound and 40-pound cartons. Today, they ship thousands of mail-order cartons. Debbie says one customer paid nearly $80 in freight to send a box to a friend in Hawaii.

So what’s so special about a Mattamuskeet Sweet Onion? The market is flooded with sweet onions from all over the country—Washington’s Walla Wallas, Texas’ SuperSweets, Georgia’s Vidalias and California’s Sweet Imperials, to name a few. Sweet onions are considered a “fresh” onion, lightly cured to encourage a delicate, papery layer for protection. They typically last a few weeks to a couple of months. The Mattamuskeet is available for a short time—early June through late July – and Daughtry has no interest in improving the shelf life. The rarity keeps the onion in demand and its price stable.

In spite of the success so far, the Daughtrys haven’t put all their eggs in one gunnysack. Alligator River Growers is still primarily a grain farm, with corn, soybeans, onions and a few snap beans on 4,500 acres, both leased and owned. The Daughtrys plan to expand their mail-order inventory to include autumn specialty baskets of Indian corn and ornamental pumpkins and gourds.