Word is Vidalias only make you cry when they're gone.
What's sweeter for growers of this specialty onion is that a niche market created by chance has been pushed to profitable heights with skillful marketing.
Robert Dasher - whose father was one of six original growers – turns away customers and sits down at the peak of Vidalia harvest to tell the story of how this sweet onion got its name and earned its premium price.
It started, Dasher says, with Gerald H. Achenbach, then-president for Piggly Wiggly Southern, which had a warehouse in Vidalia, Ga. Achenbach liked to stop in the Glennville area to buy onions on his way to the beach – and both them in the 25- or 50-pound bags then available and shared them with friends and co-workers. One of those co-workers wanted to know why the onions weren't being offered in the stores.
To get such an enterprise started, the first thing Achenbach had to do was get six growers to commit to 10 acres each.
"At that time the whole farm was four or five acres," Dasher points out. "They agreed and he was fair to them. Jerry was good to them, really."
Achenbach then had bags printed that read "Vidalia Sweet Onions – Grown for Piggly Wiggly Southern".
If that was the rock that caused an avalanche, the marketing history would be short, but those Auchenbach simply was the catalyst. From there, growers took over.
The next step was to get Kroger in Nashville, Tenn., to buy their product. They finally agreed to one load.
"They sold that first load, then got another," Dasher recalls. Then he snaps his fingers again and again and again. "It was just another load and another load after that."
The Atlanta division of Kroger snapped up the onions next, which is when Dasher believes the name really started to spread. Other food chains joined the trend afterward, but Dasher is particularly loyal to Piggly Wiggly and Kroger as a result of that early – and continued – support.
"Before Vidalia even became a name, we called them Royal Onions," Dasher recalls. "It didn't even say 'sweet'. You could catch a year when there weren't any onions from Texas or anywhere else and you might be able to sell yours. You might."
Eventually, growers in the area moved to protect the name. In 1986, Georgia's state legislature gave the Vidalia onion legal status and defined the 20-county production area. In 1989, producers established Federal Marketing Order No. 955 for the crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Vidalia Onion Committee and extended the definition of a Vidalia onion to the federal level. A year later, the Vidalia was named the official vegetable of Georgia.
Among other things, the state and federal regulations demand a certain quality before an onion can be marked with a Vidalia sticker.
Such protection is necessary, grower Delbert Bland says, because onion isn't necessarily a staple in every kitchen.
"I like the challenge of selling something somebody doesn't think they need for a price they don't think they should pay," Bland says. "We don't necessarily have a market for this product. We had to create it and now we have to take care of it."
Walk with us through this spring's Vidalia onion harvest.
Vidalia, You Sweet Thing!
Vidalia onions aren't just a southern thing. They're sold and marketed in 50 states. Internationally recognized chef and TV personality Bobby Flay says: "Vidalia onions aren't just the most famous onions in the world; I think they may be the only famous onions in the world."
You Can Only Grow Them Here
Onions can be grown nearly everywhere, but to be called Vidalia they only can be grown in 13 counties in Georgia and parts of 7 others. The Vidalia growing district was established by the Georgia Legislature in 1986, reinforced with a Federal Marketing Order in 1989 and is fiercely protected.
Dig Then Dry
Vidalia onions are left to field dry for a time – largely depending on the weather – before they're clipped and brought to the packing shed.
Clip Quick!
An H2A worker clips Vidalia's in one of Robert Dasher's fields. Dasher prefers using the federal foreign worker program because he's guaranteed the workers he needs when he needs them.
Many Hands
According to the Vidalia Onion Committee, four workers can clip and bag just one acre per day. That's about 600 bags, or 150 bags each.
Box Upon Box
Buckets of clipped onions are dumped into boxes, which then are loaded onto trucks for transport to the packing shed. There they are dried some more and then may be immediately bagged for shipping or may go into cold storage.
Peak Harvest
Bland Farms in Glennville, Ga., processes 6 million boxes of onions, mostly sweet, from farms in Georgia, New York, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Peru. But the only ones labeled "Vidalia" are grown on the 2,000 acres the company works in Georgia.
Peerless Drying
Growers first started using tobacco barns, then moved to Peerless dryers (pictured here at Easterling Farms). The Peerless dryers are similar to those used to dry peanuts. Larger growers now are moving to drying rooms.
Production Line
The grading system for Vidalias is adapted from the fruit industry.
Premium Grade
U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector Daryl Dozier examines a Vidalia at Plantation Sweets. A USDA examiner is hired by every packing plant to examine the onions for quality and size. Each inspector samples a minimum of one onion in every two pallets. "He's really protecting the quality of what we market," University of Georgia Extension Agent Cliff Riner says. "He's really helping the grower."
Bag 'Em Up
Consumers largely prefer convenient bags of onions. Growers offer various sizes, depending on the retailer's needs.
Get Your Money's Worth
Though onions are weighed during the grading process, an employee double checks the weight on every bag before it's shipped.
How Sweet It Is!
Former insurance agent Ronny Collins shows off a high graphic box of Vidalias. Growers started using the boxes in the 1980s, before any other onion growers thought of it. Collins now also markets watermelon, sweet potatoes and corn.
Willing to Take Risks
Delbert Bland, of Bland Farms, first pounded the pavement to push Vidalia onions and then started marketing value-added products. Ore-Ida bought his Vidalia onion ring operation in 1998.
Added Value
Bland Farms also offers a wide variety of Vidalia-based products.
No Tears and No Beer
Country singers may be known for crying in their beer, but a special Vidalia promotion is sweet for consumers. Those who buy specially marked bags can download free songs, as part of a promotion by the Vidalia Onion Committee.
Year 'Round Availability
UGA Extension Agent Cliff Riner pulls an onion from a box in cold storage. Storing onions opens a 6- to 8-week harvest to a year-round market – and helps hold up prices.
New Varieties
Riner helps develop new varieties to add to the lineup of about 20 yellow granex seed varieties now available to Vidalia growers. In addition to size and yield, the new varieties must offer that sweet taste that makes the Georgia onion famous.
Whatcha' Think?
Riner and grower Joseph Easterling pull onions from a variety plot.
In His Daddy's Footsteps
Robert Dasher continues to work for the industry his father helped create. He was named the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year in 2010, rising above growers from nine other states. The judges particularly noted his work to establish the Vidalia brand.
On To Another Generation
It's the work to create a brand and then protect it that's made it possible for another generation to move into the industry. Jonathan (left) and Joseph Easterling are the fourth generation to lead a family farm started in 1902. Without the Vidalia brand, the Easterling brothers said, they could not survive.