Pungency certification survives Ga. court
Pungency certification survives Ga. court
If a Vidalia onion is certified sweet, does that detract from the "Vidalia" brand of onion, which already implies sweet onions? A Georgia Superior Court judge on April 19 answered that question: No.
National Onion Labs Inc. in Collins, GA, was the immediate winner in the legal case. But David Burrell, president of the company, insists that American consumers are the real winners.
Mr. Burrell said that his business has faced legal confrontations since he opened a company named Vidalia Labs in 1998. After a lawsuit was filed against that company, he started Vidalia Labs International in 1999. In 2004, we changed the name to National Onion Labs. Perhaps now the company can focus more on determining the sweetness of onions.
National Onion Labs uses a variety of proprietary procedures to help growers determine the sweetness of their onions while the bulbs are still in the field. Samples are taken around a field, with the precise global positioning system location of each sample recorded. The firm then gives growers a map of their field, showing field locations with the sweetest onions. Those areas that are not so sweet can receive more propriety services from National Onion Labs to boost sweetness before harvest. After these procedures, onion growers and marketers are allowed to promote onions as Certified Sweet or Certified Very Sweet. Certified Sweet and Certified Extra Sweet are trademarks of National Onion Labs.
The technology has been applied by several leading growers in the Vidalia deal for the last couple of years. As the legal issues were in doubt, most did not overtly promote the certification, but that path is now very clear, according to Mr. Burrell.
National Onion Labs also has clients in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mexico, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon and California.
Dr. David Kopsell, who holds a doctorate from the University of Georgia in horticulture, specializing in onion pungency, who works for National Onion Labs, described the setting for the legal affronts to his company: There are definitely, in any market, the progressive growers at the leading edge doing all they can to give quality assurance to the consumer. And there are those growers that like the status quo and the way things are and not change. A group of those growers had gotten together. This was something new and they had to fight it.
Dr. Kopsell said that those opposing certified-pungency testing argued that Vidalia is a registered trademark. This trademark in itself, they claimed, certified onions as Vidalia onions, which specified growers, location and onion variety. They claimed that further certification degrades the Vidalia brand. The final result found otherwise, he said.
Mr. Burrell listed an impressive cast that testified in court April 19 in favor of certifying onion sweetness. He said that Bill Randle, a horticulture professor at the University of Georgia, verified that pungency gradients have been correlated to what people taste. People can distinguish between mild, very mild and slightly pungent, Mr. Burrell said, paraphrasing Dr. Randle. The consumer can taste the difference and the grower can use that information to improve his onion crop's taste, Mr. Burrell added.
Others testifying for the taste certification were Bob Evans of Keystone Fruit Marketing, who, Mr. Burrell paraphrased, testified this is simply the best science they know to consistently offer product that has the characteristics of what the consumer is buying. They have conducted this on every sweet onion they have worked with since 1999 and, with talk of certifying sweet or extra sweet, it is not causing confusion in the marketplace.
Chester Fulp of A. Duda & Sons Inc. in McAllen, TX, according to Mr. Burrell, stated that Duda has two years in this program, using it to improve product. Mr. Burrell said that Mr. Fulp was asked if the sweetness branding causes confusion in the market place. He said, 'No, it takes it out of the marketplace. As a major marketer of onions, this helps consumers distinguish between what they think is sweet and what is a sweet onion. Mr. Burrell added that this testimony was forthcoming despite the fact that Duda has had the experience of having had a field fail sweetness testing. The firm decided not to sell such onions as sweet.
Mr. Burrell said that R.T. Stanley of Stanley Farms in Vidalia also testified in support of pungency certification, informing the court that he has sometimes had complaints over the last 20 years that his Vidalia onions were not sweet.
He added that since he has participated in National Onion Labs certification over the last two years, he has had no such complaints. Mr. Burrell said that Mr. Stanley is in his third year of participation with National Onion Labs, growing 1,000 acres this year.
Mr. Burrell said that Dr. Kopsell also testified about a grocery-shopping trip made by Mr. Burrell and Dr. Kopsell. The men bought $367 in groceries, purchasing products with different indicated flavors or intensities. Dr. Kopsell demonstrated to the court that consumers are accustomed to different intensity levels in buying food. He noted, for example, that coffee comes with different roasting levels and cheese with four different taste intensity levels. Different tastes of salsa are available, and toilet paper can be soft or extra soft.
Mr. Burrell estimated that the United States has annual retail sweet onion sales of between $750 million and $1 billion. In U.S. retail supermarkets, we have documented 130 unique sweet onion labels. In our survey 21 percent were Vidalia sweet onions. In its survey, National Onion Labs bought onions in 27 states. After testing the taste of its sample, more than half of the samples did not have the flavor of a sweet onion.
Mr. Burrell said that his company has tested a half-million onion bulbs over the last seven years. During that time, I have never shown a flavor map to a grower in North [America] or South America who didnt look at the map and say something like: I always knew there was a clay spot where the map would mark a different onion flavor. Given the high-tech maps, every grower has been able to take flavor variability and tie it to a certain characteristic of part of a field.
National Onion Labs Inc. in Collins, GA, was the immediate winner in the legal case. But David Burrell, president of the company, insists that American consumers are the real winners.
Mr. Burrell said that his business has faced legal confrontations since he opened a company named Vidalia Labs in 1998. After a lawsuit was filed against that company, he started Vidalia Labs International in 1999. In 2004, we changed the name to National Onion Labs. Perhaps now the company can focus more on determining the sweetness of onions.
National Onion Labs uses a variety of proprietary procedures to help growers determine the sweetness of their onions while the bulbs are still in the field. Samples are taken around a field, with the precise global positioning system location of each sample recorded. The firm then gives growers a map of their field, showing field locations with the sweetest onions. Those areas that are not so sweet can receive more propriety services from National Onion Labs to boost sweetness before harvest. After these procedures, onion growers and marketers are allowed to promote onions as Certified Sweet or Certified Very Sweet. Certified Sweet and Certified Extra Sweet are trademarks of National Onion Labs.
The technology has been applied by several leading growers in the Vidalia deal for the last couple of years. As the legal issues were in doubt, most did not overtly promote the certification, but that path is now very clear, according to Mr. Burrell.
National Onion Labs also has clients in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mexico, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon and California.
Dr. David Kopsell, who holds a doctorate from the University of Georgia in horticulture, specializing in onion pungency, who works for National Onion Labs, described the setting for the legal affronts to his company: There are definitely, in any market, the progressive growers at the leading edge doing all they can to give quality assurance to the consumer. And there are those growers that like the status quo and the way things are and not change. A group of those growers had gotten together. This was something new and they had to fight it.
Dr. Kopsell said that those opposing certified-pungency testing argued that Vidalia is a registered trademark. This trademark in itself, they claimed, certified onions as Vidalia onions, which specified growers, location and onion variety. They claimed that further certification degrades the Vidalia brand. The final result found otherwise, he said.
Mr. Burrell listed an impressive cast that testified in court April 19 in favor of certifying onion sweetness. He said that Bill Randle, a horticulture professor at the University of Georgia, verified that pungency gradients have been correlated to what people taste. People can distinguish between mild, very mild and slightly pungent, Mr. Burrell said, paraphrasing Dr. Randle. The consumer can taste the difference and the grower can use that information to improve his onion crop's taste, Mr. Burrell added.
Others testifying for the taste certification were Bob Evans of Keystone Fruit Marketing, who, Mr. Burrell paraphrased, testified this is simply the best science they know to consistently offer product that has the characteristics of what the consumer is buying. They have conducted this on every sweet onion they have worked with since 1999 and, with talk of certifying sweet or extra sweet, it is not causing confusion in the marketplace.
Chester Fulp of A. Duda & Sons Inc. in McAllen, TX, according to Mr. Burrell, stated that Duda has two years in this program, using it to improve product. Mr. Burrell said that Mr. Fulp was asked if the sweetness branding causes confusion in the market place. He said, 'No, it takes it out of the marketplace. As a major marketer of onions, this helps consumers distinguish between what they think is sweet and what is a sweet onion. Mr. Burrell added that this testimony was forthcoming despite the fact that Duda has had the experience of having had a field fail sweetness testing. The firm decided not to sell such onions as sweet.
Mr. Burrell said that R.T. Stanley of Stanley Farms in Vidalia also testified in support of pungency certification, informing the court that he has sometimes had complaints over the last 20 years that his Vidalia onions were not sweet.
He added that since he has participated in National Onion Labs certification over the last two years, he has had no such complaints. Mr. Burrell said that Mr. Stanley is in his third year of participation with National Onion Labs, growing 1,000 acres this year.
Mr. Burrell said that Dr. Kopsell also testified about a grocery-shopping trip made by Mr. Burrell and Dr. Kopsell. The men bought $367 in groceries, purchasing products with different indicated flavors or intensities. Dr. Kopsell demonstrated to the court that consumers are accustomed to different intensity levels in buying food. He noted, for example, that coffee comes with different roasting levels and cheese with four different taste intensity levels. Different tastes of salsa are available, and toilet paper can be soft or extra soft.
Mr. Burrell estimated that the United States has annual retail sweet onion sales of between $750 million and $1 billion. In U.S. retail supermarkets, we have documented 130 unique sweet onion labels. In our survey 21 percent were Vidalia sweet onions. In its survey, National Onion Labs bought onions in 27 states. After testing the taste of its sample, more than half of the samples did not have the flavor of a sweet onion.
Mr. Burrell said that his company has tested a half-million onion bulbs over the last seven years. During that time, I have never shown a flavor map to a grower in North [America] or South America who didnt look at the map and say something like: I always knew there was a clay spot where the map would mark a different onion flavor. Given the high-tech maps, every grower has been able to take flavor variability and tie it to a certain characteristic of part of a field.
