rose of roscoff onion seeds Onions de Roscoff (Kilo String) – Wellington Fresh

Totally versatile, the Roscoff Onion can be used as a vegetable, a side-dish or as a condiment, raw or cooked. They are celebrated not just for their colour, but also for their unique flavour, their high vitamin C content and their long shelf-life.

Grown in the Roscoff region of Brittany since the 17th century, these onions were imported by overseas travellers and only grow in certain soils, so they are not found in many places beyond the area around Roscoff. They became famous thanks to the "Johnnies", onion sellers who travelled from Roscoff in the 1800s to sell their produce further afield, notably in England. These men travelling the country on bikes, wearing strings of onions and dressed in their Breton striped tops are the source of our stereotype for the bike-riding French man!

Nowadays, these onions have been recognised with an AOC approved label, acknowledging the longstanding know-how behind their production, which yields about 1500 tonnes a year. Every stage in their production takes place in a specific area around Roscoff.