Dot Foods Celebrates 20 Years in Vidalia, Georgia

20 Fun Facts to Celebrate 20 Years

On June 1, Dot Foods Georgia celebrated their 20-year anniversary. To continue the celebration, we are sharing 20 fun facts about our Vidalia distribution center (DC). 

1. Our Vidalia DC has been around since 1999

Check out our founder, RT, in the sweater vest, visiting our GA facility.

2. Dot Foods Georgia was our fifth distribution center (DC)

3. The DC is in an old Piggly Wiggly facility

We didn’t build Dot Foods Georgia from the ground up! Instead, we inhabited an old Piggly Wiggly facility and turned it into what you know as our Vidalia DC today.

4. Employees: 420

5. Drivers: 160

6. Total Warehouse Space: 342,957 sq. ft.

7. In March 2017, the GA dry warehouse completed its expansion

This added 3,008 slots and nine dock doors to the facility.

8. There are 14 employees who have been with Dot for over 20 years

Many of them have been at Dot Foods Georgia since the day it opened! And a few started at a different Dot location before transferring and calling Vidalia home. There are also almost 40 employees who have been at our Vidalia DC for 15 or more years. They all consider Dot Foods to be their second home!

9. Our Vidalia DC was one of the first Dot locations to have a Family Health Center

Dot provides many resources to their employees to ensure they are staying as healthy as possible. One of those resources is our Family Health Centers (FHC). Dot Foods Georgia opened their FHC in 2013 and have been serving employees and their families on Dot’s health insurance ever since.

10. Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Record Setters

In 2018, Georgia’s Dot Transportation (DTI) team set the company record for lowest number of MVAs. They won the President’s Award and set the bar high for the rest of the company’s driving teams.

11. Home of the Vidalia Onion

Vidalia, Georgia, is the home of the Vidalia onion.

12. The Vidalia Onion is the official vegetable of the state of Georgia

13. So, what is the Vidalia Onion?

It is a sweet, mild onion that was accidentally discovered in 1931 during the Great Depression. They are only offered from April to August each year.

14. The Vidalia Onion Festival

Yes, there is a festival in April dedicated to the harvesting of Vidalia onions. It was established in Vidalia in 1978.

15. Community involvement

Our Vidalia DC does a lot in their community. Much of the community service is dedicated to the United Way, the local area Chamber of Commerce, Neighbor-to-Neighbor food drives, and the local schools.

Plus, over the past 20 years, Dot Foods Georgia has donated over $1.7 million to local organizations.

16. Their United Way contribution in 2018 totaled over $40,000

In 2018, Dot Foods Georgia raised $27,222 to be donated to United Way causes in their community. After Dot’s match, that total was raised up to $40,833. All of this money was given to a United Way organization of the employees’ choice.

17. They have a revamped Neighbor-to-Neighbor program

In 2018, Dot Foods revamped their Neighbor-to-Neighbor program companywide. Each DC chose local food pantries to receive Dot’s help. Each pantry was able to order about $5,000-worth of food products, which were then delivered on Dot trucks to the dedicated local pantries. In many cases, Dot volunteers accompanied the deliveries to help unload and stock the pantry shelves.

Our Georgia DC donated $24,435-worth of food to four pantries in the Vidalia area.

18. Advocates for youth and education

Dot Foods Georgia and their employees do a lot of work in the community, but one of their primary causes are youth and education.

19. The Georgia DC is the only DC, aside from our headquarters in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, that runs out of two buildings

20. Since 1999, Dot Foods Georgia has increased their product volume over 5.5 times

In 1999, our Vidalia DC shipped out 76 million pounds of product. In 2019, it is predicted that 420 million pounds will be distributed to customers all around the eastern and southern coasts!