The only problem with Vidalia Onions — Georgia’s trademarked crop — is they’re only available from April ’til September. When they first came to national prominence in the 1980s, that wasn’t a problem. But people loved ’em so much they started asking for more and grocery stores wanted Vidalias year-round.
But you can’t fool Mother Nature. The Vidalia onion only grows one place on Earth, in the rich soils around Vidalia, GA in the Southeast portion of the state. The search was on for a similar, suitable climate and soil mix that would produce a sweet onion that could be Vidalia’s off-season cousin; they found the answer in Peru.
Over the last 20 years, those onions — grown by Georgia farmers or in conjunction with their Peruvian partners and distributed through the same infrastructure the Vidalia industry created, have become a little bit famous in their own right as a cousin to the King of Onions.
The result is a thriving local economy that makes the Vidalia region a shining example of how small town American can flourish — and is also part of making it one of our favorite places on the planet to be.