April comes with great anticipation as the Vidalia onion category draws the wallets of everyone from BBQ mavens to foodservice chefs and inspired culinary consumers. A variety cultivated for more than 80 years by growers, the Vidalia onion is considered a premium category at retail and a draw for all grocers who possess its differentiation and sales opportunities. Knowing the ins and outs of such a category can only help to drive the popular Vidalia onion’s growth in the produce department. So, with that said, here are some stats and facts to help retailers connect more value to their burgeoning Vidalia onion programs...
∙ APPROXIMATELY 11,000-11,500 ACRES of Vidalia onions are planted each year.
∙ HAND-PICKED: Vidalia onions are generally transplanted and harvested by hand, a labor-intensive process from beginning
to end.
∙ APPROXIMATELY 50 GROWERS are registered to cultivate this regional specialty.
∙ 5.3 MILLION (40lb) equivalents shipped in 2018.
∙ THE SWEET, MILD FLAVOR of Vidalia onions was originally a fluke that was stumbled upon by the farmers who planted them during the Great Depression.
∙ STATE VEGETABLE: In 1990, the Vidalia onion was named Georgia’s official state vegetable.
∙ Former President Jimmy Carter, a Georgia native, used to give them to visiting dignitaries as WHITE HOUSE GIFTS.
It’s all in the SOIL AND CLIMATE. Once revered for its healing properties, today the sweetest onion in the world and Georgia’s state vegetable is more than just a cornerstone of southern barbecue—THE VIDALIA ONION IS A WAY OF LIFE...
∙ GROWING REGIONS: Vidalia Onions can only be grown within a 20-county growing region in South Georgia: Appling, Bacon, Bulloch, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Laurens, Long, Montgomery, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, and Wheeler.
∙ SO SPECIAL: This 20-county growing region represents a 6,000-square-mile area, in a state occupying 60,000-square-miles, in a country composed of 3.8-million-square-miles.
∙ CITY OF VIDALIA: Vidalia onions are named for the city in Toombs County where they were first sold. But, they can in fact be grown outside of the city limits.
∙ ONIONS GALORE: The largest volumes of Vidalia onions are grown in Toombs and Tattnall County.
∙ TRANSPLANTING: Many people are unaware, but transplanting is a part of the Vidalia onion growing process. This is done to protect the Vidalia onion plants.
∙ NEW FIELDS: The plants are moved from seed beds into new fields once they’ve grown to about the width of a pencil.
Though the Vidalia onion has long reigned as a produce aisle standout, the category is still ripe for exponential growth across the buy-side. All that's left to do is unlock its unlimited value potential in-stores. We'll leave you to it... 
