“The show is packed with educational classes, valuable mentorship programs and fun events that we enjoy participating in,” said Steven Shuman, general manager and vice president of sales for the Glennville, GA-based company. “We always look forward to discovering new technology and processes being developed to help advance our segment.”
Friends old and new can find G&R Farms at booth No. 224, where CEO Blake Dasher, Shuman and sales manager Rawls Neville will be on-hand.
“G&R Farms is in the process of finishing out our 2024 Vidalia season and have launched our 2024 Peruvian Sweet Onion season,” Shuman said. “Due to a successful Vidalia season this year, we plan to have samples of both varieties at this year’s show.”
The 2024 Vidalia season has far surpassed expectations for the company.
“Favorable conditions lengthened the 2024 season, giving us the ability to continue shipping Vidalia’s deep into September,” Shuman said. “South, in Peru, we’ve started harvesting and will begin shipping shortly, providing our customers with high-quality, fresh sweet onions year-round.”
In addition to its product line, G&R Farms is incredibly passionate about continuous learning and improvements within — including product quality, taste, and consistency, resource reduction, process fine-tuning and sustainability.
To that end, G&R Farms has a host of sustainability initiatives it’s been working on that are showing real promise in reducing costs and improving yields.
“While sustainability is still a hot topic among consumers, we’ve also seen undeniable benefits to our bottom line during our trials,” Shuman said. “As we lose farms in this country, it becomes imperative that we find solutions to fill those gaps. Saving resources, money, land, and process and shipping times will all help us get there.”
Despite great advancements in the industry, G&R Farms continues to research, test and identify solutions to make sure it remains at the forefront of innovation and delivers beyond expectations.
“Our current initiatives include our wildly successful sustainability trial reducing water consumption and other inputs while maintaining expected yields,” Shuman said. “Walking into Southern Innovations is like walking into a think tank and we’re always looking for inspired ideas leading to deep-dive discussions about the next great innovative product or process.”
Where Southern Innovations stands out for G&R Farms is in its regional and innovation focuses.
“We always expect we’ll leave this show with new knowledge, more questions and inspired ideas relevant to our region ready to be talked out with the team,” Shuman said. “Southern Innovations is a great place to reconnect with customers and introduce ourselves to potential new ones, but more, for each of us to spend quality time out on the floor learning about the latest innovations while having deep discussions about ‘the how’ with like minds.”
The company invites people to check out its new digital footprint.
“We provide regular updates on social media and in our monthly crop update newsletter, featuring educational content on onion production and quality through our ‘Cliff Notes’ series,” Shuman said. “Led by our in-house onion expert, Cliff Riner, research and development manager, these insights reflect his extensive experience, including establishing the Georgia Crop Quality Lab and coordinating the Vidalia Onion & Vegetable Research Center.”
G&R has also focused on marketing communications in both B2B and B2C, honing strategies that effectively reach diverse audiences and bridge the gap between business and consumer markets.
“This dual approach allows us to tailor our messaging to meet the unique needs of each segment, successfully driving engagement and fostering stronger connections across the board,” Shuman said.
