Tearless onions will be returning to Waitrose this Christmas.
Sunions, a variety develped by BASF, and famous for not causing tears when cut, will be available in Waitrose’s No1 range from December.
BASF said the onions also maintain their strength in storage, mellowing and sweetening over time, and have a similar flavour profile to other brown onion varieties.
Launched in 2022, Sunions took more than 30 years of development and were heralded as a breakthrough in vegetable innovation, said BASF.
“Whether it is in the kitchen or around the Monopoly board, nobody wants tears at Christmas,” said Naz Ahmed, UK customer marketing specialist at BASF. “Onions are a key ingredient throughout the festive season, adding depth of flavour to nearly every savoury dish from soup and stuffing to gravy and chutney.”
He added: “For too long cooks and chefs creating these culinary masterpieces have paid a price. That’s changing, thanks to Sunions.”
The onions are grown in Spain and marketed in the UK by the Moulton Bulb arm of the Oldershaw Group, an onion grower and packer.
“Despite four decades in the family business, I still can’t cut a regular onion without shedding a tear,” admits Moulton Bulb’s director Robert Oldershaw. “That’s why Sunions have been such a hit – sales grew by over 30% last year.”
Sunions take at least four months to develop their tearless quality after being harvested in June.
“We routinely measure the pyruvic acid content, the biochemical marker of onion pungency,” Oldershaw said. “With Sunions, we also conduct blind tests where panellists cut up various varieties, hold them to their eyes and inhale to see whether they make them cry.
“We won’t release Sunions to retailers until they pass these tests.”
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