Locals know just how good all the fixins’ are from All The Fixin’s in Twin City. Janna Gay Tucker has been churning out sweet treats through this business since 2018, and she’s long had the support of her friends, family, and neighbors. Now, she’s about to put the state on notice. An original snack under the umbrella of All The Fixin’s, the brand’s “Riled Up Chocolate Pecans,” have been selected as a finalist in the Snack Foods category of the Flavor of Georgia contest put on by the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences.
Specifically, the Riled Up Chocolate Pecans were among the top 33 of 149 other food products, a stiff line of competition.
As a finalist, Tucker’s snack will compete at the next level of the competition on April 21 at the Classic Center in Athens.
Tucker says she and her husband, Brett, both of whom are UGA alumni, were thrilled to hear that their own Riled Up Chocolate Pecans made the final three. The Tuckers attribute this bit of success directly to their customers.
“They requested a chocolate option, but we had to become inventive. We don’t have all the large machinery candymakers have to coat pecans in chocolate, and we couldn’t do it individually due to the amount of time it takes. Believe me, we’ve tried! So, we used the same crunchy coating we did on our All Gussied Up Spiced Pecans, but we changed the recipe to make it a rich chocolate flavor,” the woman at the head of All The Fixin’s explained. “Our Riled Up Chocolate Pecans have quickly joined the Gussied Up Spiced and the Ruckus Makers (our turtles) as one of our three top-selling items. We love being able to hear our customers’ feedback and deliver. This time, some fancy chefs and food industry experts weighed in with positive feedback, too.”
Tucker continued, saying the opportunity to represent this area of rural Georgia on such a scale is incredibly special to All The Fixin’s.
“Both my husband and I went to college at UGA, so we are excited to head back to Athens, this time for a different reason. We are looking forward to representing south Georgia and the pecan industry as both a grower and a small business candy maker. A phrase we like to use is ‘Goodness Served.’ We serve up tastes of goodness with all of our products. We serve our customers by providing a local option for gifts and food, and our customers help us serve our community when their purchases allow us to donate food items to Weekend Blessings. We look forward to sharing this message, along with our tasty chocolate pecans, with the judging panel and other small businesses at the Flavor of Georgia event in April.”
Favor of Georgia is a food product contest for established or market-ready foods and beverages made across the Peach State.
In addition to the Snack Foods category All The Fixin’s competed in, there are 10 other divisions: Barbecue Sauces, Beverages, Condiments and Salsas, Confections, Dairy Products, Honey and Related Products, Jams and Jellies, Meats and Seafood, Sauces and Seasonings, and Miscellaneous.
Since 2007, Flavor of Georgia has launched new products into success and garnered more publicity and sales for products already in the market. From rural farmers to urban businesses, successful and talented food artisans have emerged from all over Georgia to create delicacies from the abundant agricultural products our state has to offer. More than 1,500 products have entered the contest since it began.
All The Fixin’s started four years ago, and almost every item found in its line is Georgia made or Georgia grown. Further, the company, as Tucker alluded to, has a benevolent heart.
When customers shop with All The Fixin’s, a portion of sales go toward donating food and snack items, thanks to the brand’s own “Hunger Fix” Snack Pack, a trail mix of sorts, to Emanuel County’s own Weekend Blessings, a program that sends food backpacks home with children who face food shortages at home.
All The Fixin’s is a small, family-owned and family-operated pecan producer of the Sumner variety with 40 acres of orchards in Ocilla. All pecans are prepared and packaged in Twin City.
The Chronicle will publish a follow-up story about state results and how All The Fixin’s finishes in the Flavor of Georgia contest after its conclusion.