Walla Walla Sweets Pt2

Walla Walla Sweets Pt2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. Harvest time is underway for Walla Walla Sweet Onions, and is expected to run through mid-August.

But, with crews out topping the standard yellow variety we all love, I asked Pacific Agra Farms owner Mike Locati if they are also topping the new pink to red Sweet Onions I'd heard about called the Rose' ...

LOCATI ... "We are, we are. Yeah, they're looking good. We didn't expand. We're still relatively flat to what we did last year, but hoping to hope to starting gaining some momentum with that and see what happens. You know, we kind of got to build the knowledge base around it, you know. People see a red onion and think it's going to be some smoking hot thing, but this is a different breed."

But, Locati says it's unclear at this point where consumers can find the new Rose' sweets ...

LOCATI ... "So, we deal mostly with our marketers, Keystone Fruit Marketing. So, they've kind of taken the lead on that and picking out select areas, select markets to make sure that, you know markets that will definitely showcase the onion and pay attention to it and give it the best bang for its buck. So, that's kind of in their court."

And, he says the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival is coming up Saturday, July 20th ...

LOCATI ... "Yeah, it's just a celebration of the heritage and the onion and the growers that brought it here, but it's hard to get away to go to it. But, I know Keystone is going to have a booth this year so they'll be representing us on our behalf."

The Festival will be held at the Farmer's Market area at Main and Third streets in downtown Walla Walla.

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