Tears in top British kitchens over onion shortage

By Georgina Cooper

LONDON (Reuters) - It's enough to make a chef's eyes water - an upcoming shortage of onions in Britain.

Large portions of British onion crops were decimated during floods in June and July last year, producers said.

"Last summer was very difficult, there were record levels of rainfall and at least 50 per cent of the organic crops got destroyed, mainly by disease caused by the rain," said Jonathon Tole, of the British Onion Producers Association (BOPA).

Crops which weren't destroyed in the field have not kept as well. Suppliers report much of their water-logged stocks are not fit for market.

"The onions that we have harvested on our organic farms had a very high water content, meaning that the onions are prone to softening more quickly than usual in store," said Rob Haward, Managing Director of River Nene Organic Vegetables, which delivers vegetable boxes to households in England.

It all means that English crops are running out at least a month ahead of schedule.

To make matters worse, Dutch and German onions, often used as an alternative to British ones, have also had a bad year due to flooding and South American varieties are not available for several months yet.

BOPA predicts that price of onions will rise by at least 50 percent because stocks will have to be shipped in from as far afield as New Zealand and Tasmania.