By Greg Hazley
The Vidalia Onion Committee, the Georgia-based collective which markets the sweet onions, has moved its PR account to a joint PR-marketing venture, Langston Libby Group of Atlanta, after an RFP review.
Vidalia onions are trademarked and grown only in the Peach State, where they were designated the state vegetable in 1990.
Tampa, Fla.-based Sahlman Williams was the incumbent, handling the account for the past four years.
The committee said its choice came after an “extensive search involving some of the best PR firms in the country,” including agencies of all sizes. Executive director Wendy Brannen, who headed the search, said the choice of firms that received the RFP was a “very meticulous process.”
Steve Langston, an Atlanta-based food marketing pro who put together the committee’s successful “Shrek Forever After” promotion with Dreamworks Animation this year, partnered with speciality food and beverage firm Melissa Libby PR on the pitch.
Finalists pitched Dec. 9 and the decision was made Dec. 14 by the committee, which represents 100 growers and was set up in 1989 under a federal marketing order.
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