Toward a more profitable value chain for New York state onions

For many years, New York onion growers enjoyed a leadership position in the U.S. onion supply due to a combination of advantages, including unique soil and climate conditions and proximity to large, diverse markets. However, trends suggest that these advantages are disappearing as global com­petitors offer comparable, but lower-cost, undiffer­entiated onions. As a result, the current production and marketing approaches of New York onion growers are not particularly effective. New York onion growers are presently competing in a race with each other and growers in other regions to produce high volumes of cheap commodity onions. The question thus becomes: Can onion producers continue this race, in which they seem unable to win because the competition is so fierce? Onion growers in New York state wish to under­stand onion-marketing dynamics in the U.S. and especially in New York state. By learning more about the market for onions, they may discover a new competitive advantage based on the strategy of differentiation, which could increase their value among all stakeholders of the value chain. In this commentary, I present a summary of a report I have written entitled “Analysis of the U.S. Onion Industry with a Focus on New York State Issues,” and I make the case that New York state’s onion growers have an opportunity to reverse their fortunes.