The Chinese Super Green Onion Project

The Canada China Agriculture and Food Development Exchange Center (CCAgr) holds a passion for generating and maintaining a strong connection between companies and countries through product advancement and business opportunities. Through this passion for success, the Chinese Super Green Onion project was born, in an attempt to promote Chinese cuisine as well as create prosperity for Ontario vegetable growers.

Upon completion of a detailed Canadian Market Research Report and analysis of consumption statistic reports, CCAgr identified the opportunity for Chinese Super Green Onion growth in Canada as a result of the following factors. Canada’s multicultural society brings an increased demand for ethnic foods in many communities, as well as a desire for its countless health benefits.  Chinese Super Green Onions are difficult to ship from China, resulting in little competition and an opportunity for Ontario farmers to introduce Chinese Supper Green onion growth into their regime, facilitating the demand for the Chinese Super Onion as an active ingredient in many recipes used by Canadians.  

With over twenty five years of experience in Canadian and Chinese agriculture, the agronomist at CCAgr are equipped with the knowledge and expertise they need to broaden Ontario grown vegetable variety as just one of their bright innovations in hopes of a fruitful friendship between Canada and China.  

Funding for this project was provided in part by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Agricultural Adaptation Council's CanAdvance Program.

Canadian Chinese Green Onion Market Research Report

The following market research report is conducted and created for the intent to discover a link between Chinese Green Onion production and Canadian consumer consumption habits and demand. Through the analysis of this report, we can identify that there is a prevalent market in Canada for Chinese super Green Onions. We can also prove that growth of these onions beginning in Ontario by CCAGR, and continuing to other provinces in Canada, would be ideal.

The Chinese Green Onion (CGO) has been, and is, a very popular vegetable not only in Chinese communities, but in global communities as well. World onion production is the second most significant horticultural crop production in the world after tomatoes.

The Function of CGO

The Chinese Green Onion has a variety of different uses. The onion itself is depended on for its flavour and consumption through its participation in many dishes throughout most cultures. The Chinese Green Onion is also used by Asians for medicine as it contains vitamins, proteins, carbohydrate, amino acids and minerals.

Canadians often use the white onion part as ingredient for various dishes, such as soup, and the green leafy part can be used as a substitute for chives on baked potatoes, in salads, or garnish. They are also commonly used to flavor dips, spreads, stir-fry and other dishes.

The Chinese Green Onion has been successfully grown all over China, where temperatures vary. This grants high hopes for the growth success rate in Ontario.  In the future, we hope to have Chinese Green Onions grown nationally in Canada. The Chinese Onion can be picked as seedling, grown as the white onions in the fall, or produced as shoot, which increases its function in the Canadian vegetable market, as vegetable variety supply drops during the winter months. We plan to continue to cater to consumer’s needs even when green onion crops aren’t at their strongest points. The majority of Asian food shops and general retailers expressed significant interest in selling the Chinese Green Onion in their stores in order to offer their customers an increased variety of vegetables, and also cater to the sector of the multicultural customer base.

Market for CGO in Caucasian Communities in Canada

The above approximation is attributed to Asian people alone. Because Canada is such a multicultural society, a large variety of ethnic food is introduced and maintained in the marketplace. Consumers are offered choice, and many of them opt for different ethnic dishes, or at least experiment with them, as they are exposed and introduced to them through the exclusivity of cultural restaurants and recipes. This, and the fact that these onions are home grown in Ontario, will assist in the increased demand for this good. Green Onions are included in the fresh produce that is pre-cut and packaged for fresh toppings used at salad bars, fast food restaurants or for inclusion in pre-mixed and bagged salad greens. One-third of green onions are consumed away from home, with full-service restaurants accounting for about 15 percent.

Considering both farm value and per person domestic consumption, onions are one of the top five vegetables in Canada and the United States. The rapid change in food popularity and trends in the Canadian and American society since 1970 encouraged the increased demand for onions through both fast food chains, increased ethnic restaurants and the promotion of in-store salad bars. Since the end of the decade, Canadians are still extremely interested in the Green onion.

In today’s health conscious society, Chinese Green Onions are extremely attractive and important to Canadian consumers. Onions can also help the prevention of disease and illness. One green onion stalk contains 3 calories and no fat or protein. It contains 10 % of the recommended daily value of vitamin A, 9 %of vitamin C and 1 % of calcium and iron.

Canadians are extremely loyal to produce that is freshly grown in their residing province. The promotion of home-grown Chinese Green Onions will spark an interest in those consumers willing to support initiatives conducted by their own country or province.

Through analysis of the following graph, we can interpret that generally, Canadians have increased their vegetable intake over the last eight years. Through production of these onions, we can cater to consumer’s needs and incentives to buy ethnic, which are mentioned above.

Canadian Vegetable Consumption 2001- 2009

This chart illustrates Canadian vegetable consumption five times daily from the years of 2001-2009. The percentage of males who consumed fruit and vegetables at least five times daily was 31.9% in 2001, 34.5% in 2003, and 35.7% in 2005. There were 36.7% of males who consumed fruits and vegetables at least five times daily in 2007, 37.0% in 2008, and 39.7% in 2009.

The percentage of females who consumed fruit and vegetables at least five times daily was 43.0% in 2001, 48.0% in 2003, and 48.8% in 2005. There were 50.8% of females who consumed fruit and vegetables at least five times daily in 2007, 50.1% in 2008, and 51.4% in 2009.

Costs of Production and Marketing Profit of the CGO in Ontario

Production costs appear in the categories of production materials and labor. This includes seedbed and field soil preparation, seeding, transplanting, irrigation, fertilizing, hilling, pest control, other field management, harvesting and sorting, storage and transportation.

Market for CGO in Asian Communities in Canada

In Ontario alone, there are approximately 2 million Asian people residing, consuming approximately 50 million pounds of the Chinese Green Onion. Through that statistic, we can forecast that once the CGO is introduced to the entire country consisting of five million Asian people, the demand will approximate 125 million pounds of the CGO.

Region of Birth of Immigrants to Canada 1971-2006

Through analyzing this graph, we can see that the most prevalent immigrants that live in Canada in recent years are that of the Asian, and Middle Eastern decent. These statistics continue to grow, and these people alter Canadians ethnic foods industry. Introducing more diverse foods and growing them locally will help to cater to this market, as well as expand to encompass new markets.

Source: Statistics Canada 2009-11-20