9 Feb 2010 --- Schnucks and Monsanto Company are teaming up to bring St. Louis consumers EverMild onions, a new U.S.-grown sweet onion variety. The EverMild will be available in fall and winter months and will offer consumers a milder taste and reduced tearing when exposed to a cut onion.

Schnucks stores in St. Louis are introducing the U.S.-bred and -grown EverMild onions for the first time this month. The onions will be available through the end of March, with in-store sampling and demonstrations planned over the next several weeks at a number of Schnucks locations. 

“Our goal is to make sure that Schnucks customers have their pick of a variety of produce offerings throughout the year,” said Michael O'Brien, vice president of produce and floral for St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets Inc. “Our buyers have sweet onions coming in from across the globe in every season, but from February to when the Vidalia becomes available in April, there has been a gap in the availability of domestic sweet onions — until now.

“The EverMild is a domestically grown onion that is mild and understated and effectively extends the season for those who like to eat and cook with sweet onions.” 

This inaugural crop of EverMild onions delivers multiple benefits, including a natural sweetness and mildness that maximizes flavor and a low “bite” that expands cooking options. EverMild onions take their sweet disposition a step further by muting the levels of the enzyme that causes tearing when slicing or cutting the onion.

With everyday cooks and families in mind, EverMild onions are versatile. The onions are mild enough to use raw in salads and salsas or sliced for sandwiches. Sauté, caramelize, grill or roast the EverMild onions to bring out more sweetness in any dish.

According to David Stark, Monsanto’s vice-president of Consumer Traits, the company’s Vegetable Seed business developed the yellow EverMild onion using traditional plant breeding.

“Monsanto is focused on bringing innovations to vegetable growers and the consumer,” said Stark. “The high quality of the EverMild brings consumers a great-tasting, mild onion for their favorite dishes.  We are happy to be working with Schnucks for our EverMild launch.”

Until recently, the only sweet onions available in the United States during the winter were imported from Latin America.  EverMild onions are grown in the Pacific Northwest where the dry climate and sandy, low sulphur soils are optimal for growing the best sweet onions.  Because they do not spend weeks in the hold of a cargo ship being transported from Latin America, EverMild onions look better and stay fresher longer than imported sweet onions.