# Red onions wholesale: varieties, sizing and delivery windows

Wholesale red onions from the grower: Redtide, Redmate, Aurelion, Tannat, sizing for retail and peeling, deliveries from store through winter and spring.

Red onions in wholesale are a different product from yellow ones: buyers choose them for colour and looks, they go mainly to retail and to peeling, and they keep for less time, so the delivery schedule has to be built differently. We grow them in the Żuławy region on the Redtide, Redmate, Aurelion and Tannat varieties, sort them optically and release them from our own 13 000 tonne store through winter and into spring. Below we describe what a packing house should know before ordering its first batch from us.

## What the buyer is paying for in red onions

In yellow onions what counts most is firmness and how long they keep. In red onions a third factor joins those two, and it is often the most important one: colour. Red onions go into salads, into catering and onto the shelf in a net sack, where the customer sees it through the packaging and chooses with their eyes. A pale batch with an uneven shade sells worse, even if it is firm and healthy.

That is why we choose varieties for three traits at once: a deep maroon colour in the skin and rings, a strong, well-attached skin, and even sizing. The backbone of production is Redtide F1, which we describe separately in our post on [Redtide F1 red onion](/blog/cebula-czerwona-redtide-f1), and alongside it we mostly base our range on the Redmate, Aurelion and Tannat varieties.

## Varieties and when we release them

| Variety | Where it comes from in the season | What we recommend it for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Red Baron, Ruby Star (onion sets) | early summer, fresh harvest | fresh red onions in early summer, fast turnover |
| Redtide F1 | spring sowing, late summer harvest | backbone of autumn and winter deliveries, retail and peeling |
| Redmate, Aurelion, Tannat | spring sowing, late summer harvest | the other varieties we mostly base our range on |

Red onion sets come in earlier than onions from sowing, which is why they link the end of store stock with the new harvest. How we run that crop, we describe in our post on [onion sets](/blog/cebula-z-dymki-uprawa-wczesny-zbior).

## Sizing for retail and for peeling

We size red onions for two main uses. For retail net sacks, buyers usually ask for a medium, even size grade in which every onion looks similar. For industrial peeling and catering, larger bulbs are more convenient, because less work goes into every kilogram of finished product. We agree the exact size boundaries with each buyer individually, because packing houses use their own sieves and their own net sack standards.

Even sizing starts for us in the field, with plant density and even sowing, and ends at the sorting line. Every batch passes through the [DOWNS CropVision optical sorter](/blog/sortownik-optyczny-downs-cropvision), which examines the onions through 360 degrees, rejects stones, clods of soil and defective bulbs, and size grading on the packing line splits the produce into size fractions. Before dispatch we select every batch for firmness, colour and dry skin, and in red onions colour matters most.

{% captionedImage src="/images/offer/cebula-czerwona-worki.webp" alt="Red onions packed into net sacks at our farm" caption="After the sorter and selection, red onions go into net sacks or big bags, depending on what the buyer does with them next." /%}

## Packaging: loose, big bags, net sacks

We release red onions in three forms:

- **loose**, for packing houses that sort and pack under their own brand,
- **in big bags**, when the buyer wants large units for further processing,
- **in 15 kg, 10 kg and smaller net sacks**, when the produce goes straight from us to a wholesaler's loading bay or to catering.

Which option to choose depends on what the buyer does with the onions next. We have gathered a comparison of cost, convenience and damage risk in our post [onions loose, big bag or sacks](/blog/cebula-luz-big-bag-czy-worki). For red onions we add one note: their skin is more delicate than that of yellow onions, so the fewer times they are handled along the way, the better they look on the shelf.

## How long red onions keep and how we plan the schedule

Red onions have a shallower dormancy and a thinner skin than yellow Rijnsburger-type varieties. The best batches of yellow onions keep with us until mid-June, and red onions end their season in the store earlier, which is why we plan their spring deliveries well in advance. We describe the details of this difference in our post [yellow or red onions for storage](/blog/cebula-zolta-czy-czerwona-do-przechowania).

For a packing house that means a simple rule: we plan red onions together with the buyer for autumn and winter, in batches released on a schedule, not as stock held for spring. Our 13 000 tonne store lets us spread releases over months, but we do not force red onions to hold to the end of the storage season. Batches where a cross-section test shows a shoot starting to move, we direct to buyers with fast turnover, not to long storage.

{% callout tone="info" %}
If a buyer needs red onions in April and May too, we arrange that in advance: it depends on how the batches came through winter, and we confirm availability on an ongoing basis, rather than promising upfront a volume that might run short in spring.
{% /callout %}

## Quality and the documents a packing house gets

We produce red onions using a technology free of pesticide residues, in line with the principles of Integrated Plant Production. We test every batch for pesticide residues, heavy metals and substances hazardous to health, and we pass the results to the buyer together with the produce. The farm holds GlobalG.A.P., GRASP, FSA Gold (Farm Sustainability Assessment) and GMP+ certification, we pass the batch test results along with the delivery documents, and we make the full batch traceability documentation available at the request of the buyer or an auditor.

Quality classes, tolerances and what an auditor counts as a defect in red onions, we describe in our post on [onion quality classes under the marketing standard](/blog/klasy-jakosci-cebuli-norma-handlowa). You will find the full picture of how we work with packing houses and processing plants in our guide [wholesale onions straight from the grower](/blog/cebula-hurt-dostawca).

## How to order red onions

We start with an enquiry containing three pieces of information: how many tonnes, in what size grade and in what packaging. On request we can send a free sample, then we agree a schedule and start with the first batch. The price is calculated from current market prices and depends on size, packaging and delivery date. You will find product details in our [red onion offer](/oferta/cebula-czerwona), and please send your enquiry through the [contact form](/kontakt).

## Frequently asked questions

### Which red onion varieties do you sell wholesale?

We mostly base our offer on the Redtide, Redmate, Aurelion and Tannat varieties. In early summer we also release red onion sets, the Red Baron and Ruby Star varieties, which come in before the new harvest from sowing.

### Until when are red onions from the store available?

Red onions have a shallower dormancy and a more delicate skin than yellow onions, so we release store stock through winter and into spring. Deliveries in April and May we arrange individually, depending on how the batches came through winter.

### In what packaging do you deliver red onions?

Loose, in big bags and in 15 kg, 10 kg and smaller net sacks. We choose the packaging form and size grade to match what the buyer does with the onions next: retail, peeling or further packing.

### Is red onion sorted the same way as yellow?

Yes, every batch goes through the DOWNS CropVision optical sorter, which rejects stones, clods of soil and defective bulbs. Before dispatch we select every batch for firmness, colour and dry skin, and in red onions colour matters most.

### How much does red onion cost wholesale?

The price is calculated from current market prices and depends on size, packaging and timing. We prepare a specific offer once you enquire through the contact form, usually together with a free sample.