Bland Farms Vidalia Brands sweet potatoes fit right in with their famous sweet onion cousins
Bland Farms Vidalia Brands sweet potatoes fit right in with their famous sweet onion cousins
Over a year in, what began as an experimental foray into sweet potatoes for Vidalia onion giant Bland Farms LLC has evolved into a rousing success.
For decades, the Glennville, GA-based company has been known for its famous sweet onions, and Vidalia has been the king of the crop. But with demand for sweet potatoes ever-increasing, the company decided over a year ago that consumers were ready for another sweet Vidalia treat that’s a perfect complement to a year-round sweet onion program.
While Vidalia is known as the sweet onion capital of the world, sweet potatoes have also long been part of the area agriculture. Bland began dabbling in commercial sweet potato production two years ago and the results were so good the company last year ramped up its program in a big way.
“Some foods are fads, some are staples. Sweet potatoes have always been popular, but with all the good news about their health benefits, they’ve gone beyond a fad,” said Delbert Bland.
Bland saw an opportunity to co-market sweet onions and sweet potatoes together where possible and the results have been fantastic.
“They go together perfectly,” Bland said. “They can ship on the same truck. Retailers can turn product over more quickly with say two shipments of sweet potatoes and sweet onions together a week than they can getting one shipment of onions and one shipment of sweet potatoes a week.”
Bland markets its fresh sweet potatoes under the “Vidalia Brands” label (the subsidiary division that also carries the company’s line of dressings, dips, condiments, snacks and frozen items) to help consumers make a connection between Vidalia-grown sweet potatoes and their famous cousin.
Bland has also created an ingenious dual bin that helps retailers maximize sales of sweet potatoes and sweet onions. The divided bin displays both products with messaging promoting both, along with other point-of-sale support.
“Sweet potatoes rule the holiday season,” Bland said. “You can’t think of Thanksgiving without thinking of sweet potatoes. But they continue to increase in popularity — and that’s not going to stop.”
There is one thing consumers and retailers can be sure of, Bland said. “We’re gonna be sweet, whether it’s onions or potatoes. I believe we can co-market that way. There’s no reason why you can’t have a bag of onions and a bag of sweet potatoes set beside each other in the store.”
