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In 1986, Prissy's of Vidalia
was started in the town of Vidalia, Georgia in the small kitchen of
Priscilla Oxley. She was very active in her local community,
helping to start and run the Vidalia Onion Festival; it was then
that she saw a growing demand for gourmet products that included
ingredients with the famous Vidalia Sweet Onions. The focus of
the business was to create quality products that looked attractive,
tasted great, and also promoted the Vidalia name. In the
beginning, Prissy's could only be found in specialty gift markets,
catering to those with an eye for the finer things in life. Up
until 10 years ago, all the recipes were made strictly with Vidalia
Onions and had not yet expanded into the 96
products that Prissy’s currently offers.
Today, Prissy’s continues to sell and promote products with Vidalia
Onions, but also a full array of our other gourmet items. We wanted to
become a company that could offer unique products without compromising
the southern flair for good taste. Two of our
most popular showcase items are Vidalia Onion & Peach Salsa and Georgia
Peach Preserves. We also have some hard to find items
like Pickled Watermelon Rind, Pickled Asparagus, and Pickled Okra. From
the small kitchen to the national company that Prissy’s has grown into,
we are always looking into the future for carrying different and better products.
The growth
and demand of our products have been a direct result of more consumers
realizing that Prissy’s has mastered their special Southern recipes
while still having a down home flavor. We are very proud to offer such a
fine and elegant line of gourmet products that not only look great, but
also taste delicious!
The Vidalia Onion Story
The Vidalia Onion Story takes root in Toombs County,
Georgia over 60 years ago, when a farmer by the name of Mose Coleman
discovered in the late spring of 1931 the onions he had planted were not
hot, as he expected. They were sweet! It was a struggle to
sell the onions at first, but Mose persevered, and managed to sell them
for $3.50 per 50-pound bag, which in those days was a big price. Other
farmers, who through the Depression years had not been able to get a
fair price for their produce, thought Coleman had found a gold mine.
They began to follow suit, and soon after, their farms were also
producing the sweet, mild onion. In the 1940's, the State of
Georgia built a Farmer's Market in Vidalia, and because the small town
was at the juncture of some of South Georgia's most widely traveled
highways, the market had a thriving tourist business. Word began
to spread about "those Vidalia onions". Consumers, then, gave the
onions their famous name. Reorders were made, and "Vidalia Onions" began
appearing on the shelves of Piggly Wiggly and A & P grocery stores.
Through the 1950s and 60s, production grew at a slow but steady pace,
reaching some 600 total acres by the mid 1970s. At that point, a push
was made for Vidalia Onions to be distributed throughout the nation, and
several promotional efforts began. Onion festivals became an annual
event in Vidalia, Georgia, and production grew tenfold over the next
decade. In 1986, Georgia's state legislature passed legislation
giving the Vidalia Onion legal status and defining the 20-county
production area. The Vidalia Onion was named Georgia's Official
State Vegetable by the state legislature in 1990. More than fifty
years after its humble beginning, the Vidalia Sweet Onion is a valuable
industry for the state. In 1990 it was named Georgia's official
vegetable. Onions contribute over $90 million to Georgia’s economy
annually.
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