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[bill cobbett]

Went shopping at a local supermarket somewhere in "north" London earlier this evening.

Amongst other things, wanted some onions, bog standard cooking onions.

Picked up a bag of onions, looked at the country of origin on the label and would you believe these onions had come all the way from NZ...!!!

These onions, these very ordinary nothing special onions, had been shipped 12,000 miles.

What is that about...???

[repulsewarrior]

...imagine, they were either shipped by plane for the freshness, but that is hardly imaginable to me, or they are shipped by boat (refrigerated), which takes about 2 weeks. it may not be the season for local onions, but where would they come from normally, this time of year?...

[erolz66]

They would have been moved by ship and not refrigerated. They were onions, not fresh cream. The fact is shipping costs even on something like onions is these days a minuscule fraction of the cost of growing and getting them to market and the reason is containerisation.

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-a ... ade-humble

[bill cobbett]

Dunno... with hundreds of square miles of very fertile arable land in places such as Lincolnshire, Cambs and East Anglia within 100-150 miles of London, it just seems odd.

Gonna take this up with the supermarket chain lest there's a mistake in the label.

[erolz66]

Dunno... with hundreds of square miles of very fertile arable land in places such as Lincolnshire, Cambs and East Anglia within 100-150 miles of London, it just seems odd.

Gonna take this up with the supermarket chain lest there's a mistake in the label.

Distance does not 'matter' any more as far as cost of production goes, because of containerisation. The 'extra' cost of the onions being grown in NZ and sold in the UK vs those grown and sold in the UK is probably a fraction of one per cent of the overall cost and is therefore negligible. That's just the reality of modern containerised global trade. It might 'seem' odd but in economic terms as things work today there is nothing odd about it at all. In 1955 the cost of such NZ onions in the UK would have been significantly more vs UK grown ones, and the bulk of that extra cost would have been the costs of loading and unloading them at ports. Now this cost, because of containerisation, has shrunk to 'near zero'.

[zan]

There are the seasons to consider as well.

http://www.alliumalliance.co.uk/imports.html

[GreekIslandGirl]

Went shopping at a local supermarket somewhere in "north" London earlier this evening.

Amongst other things, wanted some onions, bog standard cooking onions.

Picked up a bag of onions, looked at the country of origin on the label and would you believe these onions had come all the way from NZ...!!!

These onions, these very ordinary nothing special onions, had been shipped 12,000 miles.

What is that about...???

Gosh! Brings tears to my eyes!

[bill cobbett]

Dunno... with hundreds of square miles of very fertile arable land in places such as Lincolnshire, Cambs and East Anglia within 100-150 miles of London, it just seems odd.

Gonna take this up with the supermarket chain lest there's a mistake in the label.

Distance does not 'matter' any more as far as cost of production goes, because of containerisation. The 'extra' cost of the onions being grown in NZ and sold in the UK vs those grown and sold in the UK is probably a fraction of one per cent of the overall cost and is therefore negligible. That's just the reality of modern containerised global trade. It might 'seem' odd but in economic terms as things work today there is nothing odd about it at all. In 1955 the cost of such NZ onions in the UK would have been significantly more vs UK grown ones, and the bulk of that extra cost would have been the costs of loading and unloading them at ports. Now this cost, because of containerisation, has shrunk to 'near zero'.

Well, you're doubtless right about the economics of these things but it just doesn't sit well that such a simple product is shipped from the other side of the world.

Here's a picky of the label (together with the last bag of onions we bought, same shop, same price... from Norfolk)...

[Get Real!]

These onions, these very ordinary nothing special onions, had been shipped 12,000 miles.

What is that about...???

You’re telling me… lately I noticed that the rear end (anal area) of lamb being sold in Cyprus is all red and swollen and at closer inspection I noticed a red stamp… “Product of Australia”!

[bill cobbett]

There are the seasons to consider as well.

http://www.alliumalliance.co.uk/imports.html

Ah yes...

"... New Zealand
Imports from New Zealand compliment the UK season as it is similar in size and flavour to our UK product
Availability: May - July ..."