Vidalia Onion Committee manager moving on
Vidalia Onion Committee manager moving on
Jeffery Hall, who has helped guide the Vidalia Onion Committee in Vidalia, GA, during the past year as manager after the organization was left reeling from a corruption scandal perpetrated by its prior manager, Tina Wheeler, will resign to take a position with National Onion Lab Inc. in nearby Collins, GA.
Mr. Hall, who joined the committee in June 2004 after a 15-year stint with Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire Inc. in Savannah, GA, where he rose to vice president of administration, quickly acclimated to the sweet Vidalia onion deal and put together and executed a tremendous public relations campaign for the deal that included several national television appearances in which he promoted Vidalia onions and a new mascot of his design.
The program that Mr. Hall developed and executed to promote Vidalia onions was extensive. In May, he was in New York City with the committee's newest mascot, Sweetie, a Las Vegas showgirl onion created by Mr. Hall.
"I tried to modernize the whole brand of the Vidalia onion. I want it to be the 'in'ion," Mr. Hall told The Produce News in a March interview.
Also with Mr. Hall was Yumion, the longtime Vidalia Onion Committee mascot, which belongs to the city of Vidalia Convention & Visitors Bureau; Miss Vidalia Onion Mickey Dodge; and Nancy Hillis, who is the real person depicted as Mandy in John Berendt's book Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, which was also adapted into a movie.
In New York, magazines such as Bon App?tit and Southern Living interviewed Mr. Hall. He also got exposure for Vidalia onions on morning-talk television shows where he spoke with the hosts about the onions or did cooking demonstrations. He appeared on the national cable morning talk show Fox & Friends, which is broadcast live from New York City, and he was on NBC's Today show co-anchored by Katie Couric and Matt Lauer.
The troupe of Vidalia onion representatives also visited the Tribeca Grill, a famous downtown New York landmark restaurant.
After New York, four more cities hosted the group: Nashville, TN, Orlando, FL, New Orleans, and Fort Worth, TX. In those cities, he again appeared with his entourage on either national or syndicated morning television talk shows promoting Vidalia onions. On May 18, he was in Fort Worth on the morning talk show At Home Live!, hosted by Chuck and Jenni Borsellino.
Beginning in May and continuing into June, Mr. Hall conducted a retail display contest with attractive prizes. Participating stores have been submitting display photos and sales figures to the committee, and the top three stores will be named winners.
"We will actually go visit the stores [that win and] award prizes, and the top prize is a trip to Hollywood, reinforcing the committee's theme, Vidalia onions -- the star of the meal, said Mr. Hall.
David Burrell, president of National Onion Labs, a sweetness certifier for sweet onions in Vidalia and around the world, said that Mr. Hall's role with NOL will be twofold. "Jeff has some excellent business management skills, he said. "We need to increase our depth of staff in that area. And second is to be available to our clients to help explain and understand the nuances of onion flavor -- basically as a technical resource for our clients.
Mr. Hall will begin at his new post July 1, and Mr. Burrell said, "We are pretty excited to have him on board. Jeff is really a great guy.
Mr. Hall, who joined the committee in June 2004 after a 15-year stint with Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire Inc. in Savannah, GA, where he rose to vice president of administration, quickly acclimated to the sweet Vidalia onion deal and put together and executed a tremendous public relations campaign for the deal that included several national television appearances in which he promoted Vidalia onions and a new mascot of his design.
The program that Mr. Hall developed and executed to promote Vidalia onions was extensive. In May, he was in New York City with the committee's newest mascot, Sweetie, a Las Vegas showgirl onion created by Mr. Hall.
"I tried to modernize the whole brand of the Vidalia onion. I want it to be the 'in'ion," Mr. Hall told The Produce News in a March interview.
Also with Mr. Hall was Yumion, the longtime Vidalia Onion Committee mascot, which belongs to the city of Vidalia Convention & Visitors Bureau; Miss Vidalia Onion Mickey Dodge; and Nancy Hillis, who is the real person depicted as Mandy in John Berendt's book Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, which was also adapted into a movie.
In New York, magazines such as Bon App?tit and Southern Living interviewed Mr. Hall. He also got exposure for Vidalia onions on morning-talk television shows where he spoke with the hosts about the onions or did cooking demonstrations. He appeared on the national cable morning talk show Fox & Friends, which is broadcast live from New York City, and he was on NBC's Today show co-anchored by Katie Couric and Matt Lauer.
The troupe of Vidalia onion representatives also visited the Tribeca Grill, a famous downtown New York landmark restaurant.
After New York, four more cities hosted the group: Nashville, TN, Orlando, FL, New Orleans, and Fort Worth, TX. In those cities, he again appeared with his entourage on either national or syndicated morning television talk shows promoting Vidalia onions. On May 18, he was in Fort Worth on the morning talk show At Home Live!, hosted by Chuck and Jenni Borsellino.
Beginning in May and continuing into June, Mr. Hall conducted a retail display contest with attractive prizes. Participating stores have been submitting display photos and sales figures to the committee, and the top three stores will be named winners.
"We will actually go visit the stores [that win and] award prizes, and the top prize is a trip to Hollywood, reinforcing the committee's theme, Vidalia onions -- the star of the meal, said Mr. Hall.
David Burrell, president of National Onion Labs, a sweetness certifier for sweet onions in Vidalia and around the world, said that Mr. Hall's role with NOL will be twofold. "Jeff has some excellent business management skills, he said. "We need to increase our depth of staff in that area. And second is to be available to our clients to help explain and understand the nuances of onion flavor -- basically as a technical resource for our clients.
Mr. Hall will begin at his new post July 1, and Mr. Burrell said, "We are pretty excited to have him on board. Jeff is really a great guy.
