Peri & Sons Farms Has a Sustainable Mindset

Peri & Sons Farms has instituted changes to its packaging that are allowing the Yerington, NV-based company to save a whole lot of material and reduce landfill waste. That’s important to the company, which practices sustainable measures wherever it can.  

For instance, the company recently launched the Earthbag—a biodegradable, compostable, 100-percent plastic-free package.

Teri Gibson, Director of Marketing and Customer Relations, Peri & Sons Farms

“Frankly, we are a bit surprised how difficult adoption has been—from retailer acceptance to lack of materials and production challenges,” said Teri Gibson, director of marketing and customer relations for the company. “As a Certified Sustainable Farming Operation, we’re committed to progress in this area, and we hope the produce industry will blaze this trail with us.”

Decades of plastic-based packaging have yielded economies of scale that do not currently exist for new earth-friendly materials. New packaging materials are currently far more expensive to produce, which necessitates higher pricing, but Peri & Sons Farms believe it’s a price worth paying, and the company hopes that customers and consumers think so too.

“Frankly, we are a bit surprised how difficult adoption has been—from retailer acceptance to lack of materials and production challenges.” – Teri Gibson

Peri & Sons Farms is dedicated to creating a healthy farming business that meets the needs of the present without compromising the future—a philosophy that the company has had since its inception.

The farm David Peri started in 1979, when he planted his first 100 acres of white onions, is at heart the same hands-on, hardworking family farm it is—even though today the farm now has thousands of acres in production.

“At this point, David relies on family and a large, diverse team of talented, dedicated people working in all manner of innovative ways to support the impressive Certified-Sustainable farming operation, which grows, packs, and ships over 500 million pounds of onions, including organics, each year,” Gibson said.

In 2006, Peri & Sons Farms’ first three acres of organic onions were officially certified USDA Organic.

“We are very committed to our organic farming program even though it is labor-intensive and maintaining the integrity of the farmland requires extra diligence and resources,” Gibson said. “Today, thousands of acres—roughly 50 percent of our farmed acreage in Nevada—is certified for organics.”

As part of its "Onions All Year" program, approximately 30 percent of the company’s spring/summer California onion crop is certified organic.

“We are very committed to our organic farming program even though it is labor-intensive and maintaining the integrity of the farmland requires extra diligence and resources.” – Teri Gibson

“Together, our farms grow all varieties of organic onions including, red, white, yellow, and sweet, and we also grow organic cipollinis, shallots, and garlic,” Gibson said. “Between maintaining our existing certified organic fields and continually adding more organic acreage, our organic onion program is flourishing.”

Unfortunately, due to the staggering cost increases for energy, labor, transportation, seed, inputs, and all manner of supplies, the cost of growing high-quality produce—and especially certified organic produce—has been climbing.

While demand for organic produce overall has seen double-digit growth in the last few years, demand for organic onions has not matched that pace.

“There are times when we end up growing more organic onions than we can market, so a portion of our organic crop is sometimes sold under our premium product line,” Gibson said.

“Between maintaining our existing certified organic fields and continually adding more organic acreage, our organic onion program is flourishing.” – Teri Gibson

Where people once thought of organics solely as a way to avoid pesticides, now people are seeing organics as a path to a healthier mind, body, and planet.

“With younger consumers driving this consciousness, the organic produce sector will likely continue to experience growth—maybe not the spikes seen during the pandemic—but long-term, steady growth,” Gibson said.

With deep farming roots going back more than a century, four generations of the Peri & Sons family are still doing what they love—sustainably and safely growing, packing, and shipping premium and organic onions for families across America and the world.