Goodson Pecans in Leesburg, Ga., takes home Flavor of Georgia awards

LEESBURG – Behind the doors of their tiny Leesburg brick-and-mortar shop, the Goodson family makes magic.

The Goodson Pecans’ staff of nine, made up of blood family and hired family, experiment with unique flavors and whip up tasty, award-winning pecan sweets and snacks, using their family-grown nuts.

Their Sweet Orange Pecans and Toasted Pecan Fudge Butter won at the 2024 Flavor of Georgia competition in the confections and miscellaneous categories, respectively, on April 4. Flavor of Georgia is a signature event from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences organized by the Department of Food Science and Technology.

The goal is to help launch small, startup food companies built around Georgia-grown commodities. The contest has been held since 2007. Finalists receive a personalized press release, use of the Flavor of Georgia finalist logo on their label and materials, an opportunity to present their product to food industry experts as well as a one-year Georgia Grown membership.

This year’s grand prize winner went to the New Creation Soda Works company for its PECHES Georgia Peach Soda.

This is Goodson Pecans’ third year taking home a prize. They first won in the 2017 snack category with their Toasted Sriracha pecans. In 2018, they won the grand prize with their Honey Cinnamon Pecan Butter.

David Goodson, the owner of Goodson Pecans, said winning a Flavor of Georgia contest is a good way to put a business on the map, and the contest encourages creativity and innovation.

“I love that our state does a program like this because it inspires entrepreneurship,” he said. “Small businesses just keep thinking about what they could do, what the next biggest thing is and what unique way they can turn our state’s commodities into a value-added product.”

The Goodsons have grown pecans since the 1970s beginning with Goodson’s father, Roy Goodson. Today, they operate about 150 acres of pecan trees as well as the Goodson Pecans company, which sells products online as well as in stores. Their brick-and-mortar location is at 227-E Walnut Ave. S. in Leesburg.

When they first started the business in 2010, Goodson said they sold shelled pecans and simple cinnamon sugar-toasted pecans.

“Every year after that, we started adding flavors and that was what I enjoyed doing – sort of the creation of it,” he said. “I’m an inventor at heart. I love being in the kitchen, coming up with new ideas, new flavors.”

The Goodsons’ first coined flavor was “Meme’s Sugar Pecans,” which is named after Goodson’s mother’s recipe. It’s a salted caramel pecan.

The family began experimenting with all kinds of flavors – spicy ranch, vanilla espresso, pumpkin maple and then sweet orange, which Goodson said, took years to perfect.

He said the idea for a sweet orange pecan came from a customer. He started playing around with an orange-glazed pecan but could never get the recipe just right. A few years later, Goodson decided to incorporate a pure orange oil, blend of sugars and sea salt. He said he started to notice people gravitating to the Sweet Orange Pecans, so he decided to enter them in the 2024 Flavor of Georgia contest.

The judges got to enjoy the pecans on their own as well as paired with havarti cheese. Goodson said he wanted to emphasize using the snack on charcuterie boards.

Goodson’s Pecan Fudge Butter was created by accident.

Goodson said he was playing around with a natural way to combine pecan butters to avoid oil separation. After several failed experiments with a chocolate pecan butter, he put a mixture in the fridge to come back to the next morning.

“When I got back the next day, I checked it, and we had fudge butter,” he said. “At room temperature, it’s a sauce that you can drizzle over anything – breads, pancakes, waffles, apples. When you chill it, it thickens up and it becomes just like fudge. You can eat it by the spoonful.”

The family served the pecan fudge butter to the Flavor of Georgia judges over ice cream because when the sauce comes in contact with something chilled, it thickens up like a magic shell sauce.

Drew Goodson, the eldest son in the family, described the sweet orange pecan treat as a toasty pecan crunch with a hint of refreshing orange sweetness.

He said the fudge butter is unlike anything he’s ever had – a sweet dessert made with healthy ingredients.

“It’s just like dessert heaven in a jar,” Drew Goodson said.

Drew has worked on his family’s farm since he was 9 years old. He began working on the business side of things as a teen, cooking in the kitchen, bagging products and working with customers. He said his favorite part about Goodson Pecans is the family culture behind the business.

Drew woke up at 5 a.m. to drive to Athens, to support his family at the Flavor of Georgia contest.

“As a third-generation farmer, I really wanted to be there to help show the judges what our business is about, and one of our core values is family,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be there with my dad, and I felt super excited about these two flavors in particular.”

Drew presented the products and gave a speech to the judges. David’s wife Melody Goodson and three of their other children attended the contest as well.

“It brings me a lot of joy … just seeing the value for me of doing this with my family,” Drew Goodson said. “It’s really hard to put a price tag on it.”

Melody said the employees are like family as well.

“It’s great to have people you can trust and who care about the product as much as you do,” she said.

David said it’s an uncertain time for pecan farmers. In 2015, he said there was a surge of trees being planted because sales to China were flowing. However, today, China is not buying as many pecans as it once was.

In 2018, the U.S. and Chinese Trade War caused tariffs to rise, reducing the quantity of pecans exported to China.

“Yet, we’ve planted all these pecan trees that are starting to come into production, and we’re going to have to sell these pecans. … But as a commodity, the value is just fluctuating,” he said.

David Goodson said the American Pecan Council, an organization of pecan growers and processors working to build demand for the product, is looking for different international buyers and for ways to generate sales domestically.

He said he sees value in his family business because it’s taking both a Georgia citrus and pecan commodity and blending it together into a value-added product. He said he hopes the business plays at least a small part in encouraging pecan consumption domestically.

Special Photo: Dennis McDaniel Photography