A booming Peruvian onion deal and growing popularity of its niche “baby” Vidalia onions have made this a busy time of year for Herndon Farms LLC of Lyons, GA.

“We want to play to our strength and our strength is what we do in the field,” said Herndon Sales Manager John Williams. “We can be the eyes and ears for our customers on the ground and in the field as an importer from Peru. There’s no third party involved and we have the same people monitor the quality as we do with Vidalia.”

John Williams, Bo Herndon and Jason Herndon at the Southeast Produce Council 2013 Southern Exposure tradeshow. (Photo by Chip Carter)“For us, it’s about taking care of our customers, providing a good product and not overextending yourself and leaving your customer hanging,” Williams said. “We’ve built a good team and a good reputation for what we’re able to from the field and shipping to sales and marketing. We’re building a program that will last and represent quality and service. We wouldn’t want to ship anything out we wouldn’t buy in the store ourselves.”

Herndon’s bunch onion label — “Lil’ Bo’s Petite Sweet Vidalia Onions,” named after Bryton Bo Kight, grandson of Herndon Farms owner Bo Herndon — was introduced last season to promote the increasingly popular baby Vidalia crop. Harvest began just before Thanksgiving and will continue through April.

Characterized by their sweet but zesty flavor and budding stalk, baby Vidalias have become a chef favorite for use in soups, stir fries or as raw slices in a garden salad.

“We have seen this item grow in popularity the last several years; they have a unique size and are versatile in the kitchen. So we wanted to develop an in-house label that would help our customers promote and showcase this item to its fullest potential,” said Williams. “With ‘Lil’ Bo’s,’ Herndon Farms is helping to specify this product on the market, where it has otherwise been a vague and generic item. We really expect the cute and catchy name to appeal to consumers.”

Herndon has been growing baby Vidalias for several years “but there are a few reasons why we think ours stand out and why we wanted to develop that label to help it stand out even more,” Williams said. “Some people don’t do the job with them that we do. We cut off the root — not into the onion because that dries it out — peel it back where it’s nice and shiny. It’s a labor intensive item. We have a greens program, we’re used to growing and shipping greens, so our guys are used to working with wet items. We ship them in wax boxes so they can ship with dry items. We’re working with a couple of retailers that are showcasing them, people put them on ad for a couple of weeks and now we’re moving a lot of them.”

Herndon has introduced new packaging this season that is “eye-catching and also hoping to connect the consumer to the farm. There are recipes and social medium aspects, looking to represent farming in a sophisticated way,” Williams said.