Save Taiwan onions: supermarkets only sell imported ones, so where can you buy domestic fresh onions?

Text by Upstream and Downstream reporters Lin Yijun and Yang Yuyun

Domestic onions are in season, so go to traditional markets and selected supermarkets to support farmers! Central Taiwan's onions are being harvested, and low farm-gate purchase prices are making farmers cry. The farm-gate price for Changhua onions is less than 10 yuan per kg, and the farm-gate price in the Yunlin-Chiayi area is showing no improvement either, leaving farmers staring at their onions in worry. Yet walking into large supermarkets such as PX Mart, you do not see local fresh onions, only imported onions with big discount signs.

Domestic onion wholesalers say that from last year to this year, the pandemic has affected the whole world, and overseas onion use declined, creating inventory, so it was dumped at low prices and imported in large quantities, which led to the strange phenomenon of "domestic onions being in season yet unavailable."

Dacheng Farmers' Association and Shengang Farmers' Association say consumers can call the farmers' associations directly to buy, but shipping may cost more than the onions. Besides group buying, they suggest it is also more convenient to just go to a traditional market and buy two jin to take home. Consumers who want to buy directly can call Shengang Farmers' Association at 04-7983191 and Dacheng Farmers' Association at 04-8944565.

Domestic onions are in season but hard to buy; supermarket shelves are mostly imported onions

After winter began in November last (2020), domestic onions were harvested successively from central Taiwan southward. However, last winter's low temperatures came too late, so the first harvest of Changhua onions was mostly small bulbs, dragging down farm-gate purchase prices. Domestic onions are in season, and consumers want to support domestic onions with New Taiwan dollars, but when they go online or walk into PX Mart, Dinghao, or Fengkang Supermarket, they do not see domestic onions; the shelves only show discount signs for onions from the United States, New Zealand, and Japan.

It is clearly the season for domestic onions, so why are the shelves full of imported onions? Both PX Mart and Fengkang Supermarket say central Taiwan onions have high water content, do not store well, and are not suitable for long display in supermarket stores. In the past, both supermarkets waited until onions from the Hengchun Peninsula were abundant, around February to April, before putting domestic onions on the shelves, and they could sell until there was no stock of chilled onions left. At other times, there is a gap in the domestic onion season, and imported onions are put on the shelves to fill the gap.

Council of Agriculture statistics show that starting in April last year, the volume of imported onions increased gradually, and in November 12,635 metric tons were imported, 2,596 metric tons more than in November 2019. The reason for the increase in imports is related to the Covid-19 pandemic. When wholesalers and supermarket channels were actually asked, the response in each case was "this year's imported onions are very cheap."

The pandemic reduced onion use in various countries, and Japanese onions were dumped at low prices

Two major central Taiwan onion wholesalers both say that when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last year, consumption in the domestic restaurant industry was sluggish, and the same was true abroad, so overseas onion use fell sharply and inventory appeared. Lin Renhuan, purchasing manager of the Shengang Fruit and Vegetable Production Cooperative, especially