VIDALIA, Ga. — Get ready to celebrate “The Sweet Life,” Vidalia onion fans! The 2019 Vidalia Onion season has officially begun for the renowned vegetable adored by the world’s best chefs and home cooks alike for its sweet and crisp flavor.
A rite of passage every spring, the sweet juicy bulbs are cultivated by 50 registered growers and are available for a limited time each year from April to August. One of the world’s mildest onions, the way Vidalia onions are grown and raised enhances the onion’s unique taste, sweetness and texture.
“We have had a strong harvest this year and consumers can look forward to a bountiful supply of Vidalia onions to spice up their favorite dishes from salads to desserts,” said Troy Bland, chairman of the Vidalia Onion Committee (VOC), which oversees marketing for the hand-planted and hand-harvested vegetable.
According to Bland, 9,356 acres of Vidalia onions will be harvested this year. Vidalia onions comprise 62 percent of sweet onion sales in the United States and 22 percent of total onion sales.
This year, the VOC is launching a new marketing campaign, “The Sweet Life,” to highlight the unique role Vidalia onions play as a tasteful addition to a dish that help consumers elevate their cooking and entertaining style to make life sweeter and more enjoyable.
“After a successful two-year marketing effort to raise the profile of Vidalia onions among food connoisseurs, ‘The Sweet Life’ leverages our enhanced brand prominence to a wider audience,” said Bland. “Based on the findings of the research, the goal of the campaign is to position the brand as a signifier of good taste and living well for consumers who like to cook, entertain and, of course, use Vidalia onions.”
The campaign will include targeted advertising, influencer outreach, direct mail and participation in GeorgiaDepartment of Agriculture’s Georgia Grown marketing programs including agricultural tours and chef tastings.
More information about Vidalia onions can be found at vidaliaonion.org, and updates on this season’s news will be shared on Vidalia Onion Committee’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube accounts.
About the Vidalia® Onion Committee
Because Vidalia® onions are sweetly unique, farmers united to seek legal protection for their crop and its name. Federal Marketing Order No. 955 was established in 1989, to stipulate where the crop can be grown and help with research and promotion of Vidalia onions. The Vidalia Onion Committee administers FMO No. 955 and authorizes production research, marketing research and development and marketing promotion programs. This federal program along with Georgia state laws that protect the Vidalia trademark have provided a legal framework for the industry. So, you can try to grow a sweet onion elsewhere, but you cannot call it a “Vidalia,” unless it is from Georgia! For more information, visit VidaliaOnion.org.
