Onion World: The Voice of the Onion Industry

Onion Process/Fresh-cut

Fresh-cut Onions in New York
No matter how you slice, dice or peel it, the onion business in Oswego County, N.Y., will soon get a little sweeter.
Empire Produce Processors (EPP), a new onion product supplier, will produce and market a line of fresh processed sweet and pungent onion products at its new 27,000- square-foot plant located on state Route 104 in Oswego. Owners Jim and Sam Zappala expect to produce a full line of whole peeled, sliced and diced onion products for the food service industry. By the end of their first year in business, EPP will also enhance its retail business with the development of consumer-sized packages of processed onion products.

Jim Zappala (left), Same Zappala and Jeff Wallace will head up Empire Produce Processor's management team.

The company will utilize state-of-the-art production equipment to peel 2- to 5 ½-inch onions. The machines require minimal hand labor aside from the manual orientation of the bulbs to ensure accurate removal of onion tops and bottoms.

"Because we will have technology that will allow us to process a wide variety of onion sizes, we will be able to draw a significant portion of our supply from local growers who often produce slightly smaller onions than onions produced in competing areas in the country, therefore supporting our local economy," says Jim Zappala. "Having our own supplies puts us in a strong competitive position compared to other processors."
-Onion World, November 2003, page 6.