Cautiously optimistic. That’s how one grower is looking ahead at the domestic Vidalia onion season.
“That’s how we’re feeling as we begin harvesting,” says John Shuman of Shuman Farms in Cobbtown, Ga. “Our quality looks good and our yields are near to slightly below normal at this point on our first harvested onions.”
What Shuman does note is that the front-end of the crop looks better than the back-end. “That certainly seems to be the case at this time. Our caution comes from recognizing the fact that as an industry, Vidalia starts the season 17 percent down in total acreage,” he says. “Combine this with a national onion shortage and our hope for good supplies this summer hinge on Vidalia’s late season yields. With industry concerns about the late crop coming from several key factors, it’s a wait and see attitude right now.”
Late-season watch
He adds that any shortage of supply of Vidalias will be felt more so during the summer storage season and not so much in May. “With this in mind, we are keeping a close eye on our late season varieties to see how the summer storage season will unfold,” Shuman adds.
Meanwhile the market for sweet onions is steady and demand continues to be good. Shuman Farms began shipping USA Georgia grown sweet onions last week and transitioned to Vidalia Sweet Onions on Monday.
Viva Fresh
And Shuman will be discussing its sweet onion program at this year’s Viva Fresh in San Antonio, TX from April 25-27. “We’re excited to talk to everyone about our upcoming season,” says Shuman, noting that Shuman will be at booth #146. “The show falls immediately after we start shipping Vidalia onions so it is a great time for us to connect with retailers about this year’s crop and discuss our plans for the season.”
This year, Shuman will display its RealSweet® Vidalia® onions in its high-graphic secondary bin along with other in-store materials to help educate customers about Vidalia onions and Shuman Farms.
Vidalia Onion Committee
In the meantime, the Vidalia Onion Committee (VOC) is launching a new marketing campaign. It's called “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 Troy Bland, chairman of the Vidalia Onion Committee (VOC).
“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 Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Georgia Grown marketing programs including agricultural tours and chef tastings.
For more information:
John Shuman
Shuman Produce
Tel: +1-912-557-4477
john@shumanproduce.com
www.realsweet.com
or
Bob Stafford
Vidalia Onion Committee
Tel: +1-912-537-1918
bstafford@vidaliaonion.org