May 16, 2017

Potandon Produce updates Vidalia Onion packaging

Potandon Produce recently updated its Green Giant Vidalia Onion carton for the 2017 shipping season.  Last season, Potandon updated its consumer bag which, according to the company, had a visible impact on the retail shipping community, prompting the update to the master case.

Potandon’s main shipping point for Green Giant Vidalia onions is Ray Farms, owned and managed by Danny Ray, second-generation grower and previous winner of the Vidalia Grower of the Year (2012).  In a recent phone conversation, Danny Ray was very positive about the 2017 crop from an agronomic standpoint.  His fields were healthy with 100 percent stand through the growing season and quality looked excellent.  This season, in addition to the legendary Vidalia sweet onion, customers can load sweet red onions at Ray Farms.

Ralph Schwartz, vice president of sales for Potandon, also weighed in on this year’s crop.

“We’re seeing yields increased over last season in the 15 percent to 20 percent range and there are plenty of onions available from the Vidalia region. The increased yields are the direct result of an exceptionally mild growing season, with no major weather events.”

Over the next three weeks, Potandon will ship onions from the field, afterwards moving to shipping from storage right around June 1.  The current crop profile is 30 percent Mediums and 70 percent Jumbo and larger sizes.  Potandon expects demand to increase significantly over the next few weeks as Memorial Day nears.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Vidalia onion trademark.  Vidalia onions are the state of Georgia’s number one vegetable commodity.