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SWEET TASTE HELPS VIDALIA ONION SALES SIZZLE
The benefits of marketing sweet onion category leader. BY DOUG OHLEMEIER
Shoppers eagerly look forward to the start of the Vidalia onion season andwaiteightmonthsforthem to arrive at their stores. When they begin hitting store shelves,
the “King of the Sweet Onions” brings a lot of excitement into the produce department.
The legendary Vidalia sweet onion is unique for possessing a mild flavor that has made it an essential ingredient for a wide range of dishes – and in produce departments.
In 2018 on his Food Network televi- sion show, celebrity chef Bobby Flay said the following about Vidalia onions: “Vidalia onions aren’t just the most famous onions in the world; I think they may be the only famous onions in the world.”
The sweet onion accounts for an over- whelming percentage of retail sweet onion salesandiscriticalinringing-upadditional supermarket sales.
“Without a doubt, Vidalias are the star (of sweet onions),” says Sal Selletto, produce manager at the Super Foodtown of Sea Girt, NJ, a part of the Middletown, NJ-based Food Circus/Foodtown. “Vidalias are a sign of spring. We tend to put them up front. It’s that name. When people hear that, they know they’re the premier sweet onion.”
GEORGIA GROWN TREAT
The timing of when the Vidalia sweet onions hit the market is opportune for spring
and summertime promotions. Growers typi- cally begin harvesting in mid-April. Ship- mentsbeginimmediatelyduringharvest.To extend availability, growers place onions in controlled-atmosphere storage for shipments through late summer and early fall. Most shippers sell from storage through Labor Day. Some, however, store shipments for customers into November, says Bob Stafford, manager of the Vidalia, GA-based Vidalia Onion Committee (VOC).
“The main thing about the Vidalia onion deal is we have the prime part of the window in the spring when people are just beginning to get out from the cold winters and enjoy outdoor things like barbecuing,” says Stafford. “We are the only one at that time that provides a good supply.”
It’s difficult to overestimate Vidalias’ importance.“TheVidaliaonionisimportant to the sweet onion industry because it is the onion that created the category,” says John Shuman, president of Shuman Farms, Inc., Reidsville, GA. In the 1980s, Vidalia onions gained distribution throughout North America, and its popularity built the largest sweet onion industry in the world. “Its mild, sweet flavor and its unique, flat shape and yellow skin help set it apart from the Western cooking onion,” explains Shuman.
Vidalia’s reputation transcends sweet onions, says Delbert Bland, president of Bland Farms LLC in Glennville, GA. “There isn’t
any doubt in anyone’s mind that when you think of sweet onions, you think of Vidalias,” hesays.Vidaliasconstitute60percentofcate- gory sales, says Bland. “They only make you cry when they’re gone,” he says. “That speaks for itself.”
When Bland travels, people he sits next to on airplanes will ask what he does. Bland tells them he grows Vidalia onions vs. onions. “Growing Vidalia onions, that sets you apart,” he says. “That right there is all you have to say. They treat you like some kind of rock star.”
SWEET SEASONS
Vidalias possess a strong reputation. “The Vidalia has the best name recognition among sweet onions,” notes Kevin Hendrix, vice pres- ident of Hendrix Produce, Inc., which grows and ships from Metter, GA. “Vidalias are well- known.Youcouldsaythey’retheKingofthe Sweet Onions.”
Offering Vidalia onions is critical for anyone in the sweet onion deal. “The Vidalia deal is so big and so important, it really sets the tone for the year,” says Mark Breimeister, sweet onion specialist with Potandon Produce LLC, headquartered in Idaho Falls, ID. “If you’re going to be a sweet onion player, you’re not a player unless you’re involved in Vidalias. If you want to be involved in sweet onions — and potatoes and onions in general — you have to be tied into the Vidalia deal.”
Vidalias are well-known. “Vidalia onions
PRODUCE BUSINESS / MARCH 2019 / 63