Mid 1990’s
Braves Tailgating
Sassy Carragher (Henry) begins producing batches of her unique, homestyle pimento cheese to serve at Atlanta Braves playoff games. This was during the Braves epic run in the playoffs during the 1990’s. Sassy, and her boyfriend at the time, Brian Henry were big Braves fans and Sassy’s recipe was a big hit with their tailgate friends.
March 2002
On the Move
Brian and Sassy leave Atlanta and move with their two children to Pawleys Island, South Carolina where they took over the historic Sea View Inn.
June 2003
Sea View Inn
Vertrella Brown began producing batches of Sassy’s pimento cheese recipe at Sea View Inn. It was featured as an appetizer each week during the summer lowcountry shrimp boils each Wednesday evening. Needless to say, it was a guest favorite.
March 2006
Brian: “What are you passionate about?”
Sassy: “I’m passionate about my pimento cheese!”
That was the conversation that led to the Henrys adventure into making Sassy’s pimento cheese recipe a viable and marketable product. At that time, there was a lack of “homemade”, high quality pimento cheese brands on grocery store shelves. Once the Henrys decided upon the name Palmetto Cheese, a trademark was immediately filed and a homegrown label was quickly designed and produced (essentially the same label exists today).
May 2006
Palmetto Cheese is introduced at Independent Seafood in Georgetown, SC. The store agreed to stock Palmetto Cheese and the owner instructed us to “throw a dozen tubs in the ice” to see how it sells. It had modest beginnings being marketed right next to the mullet!
November 2006
Palmetto Cheese makes its first appearance at a retail grocery store at Food Lion in Pawleys Island, SC located on the South Causeway. After several months of moderate success, 3 additional Food Lion locations were added for distribution (Garden City & Murrells Inlet).
March 2007
Production of Palmetto Cheese moves from Sea View Inn to a location on Hwy 17 in Pawleys Island (current site of Get Carried Away Southern Takeout) to keep pace with local production demand.
May 2007
Palmetto Cheese hits Piggly Wiggly in Litchfield, SC. This store helps Palmetto Cheese broaden its appeal by selling to many tourists during the summer of 2007. During these peak summer months, over 500 tubs of Palmetto Cheese were sold each WEEK!
November 2007
Palmetto Cheese expands beyond the back yard of Pawleys Island, SC as 6 Publix locations in Greenville, SC decide to bring in our brand. This requires Brian to make overnight trips in the Soulburban to deliver Palmetto Cheese to the backdoor of each location for check-in and stocking. The initial list of 6 stores expanded to 11 locations in mid 2008. This also led to addition of Publix outlets in Atlanta and Charleston, SC that also had to be hand delivered.
March 2008
Palmetto Cheese contracts with Duke Food Productions to begin producing tubs for retail sales. This was done to keep up with not only the volume, but the distribution of product to Atlanta, Greenville, Charleston, and markets in between. Local customers continued to be supplied by the local production facility.
April 2008
Piggly Wiggly becomes the first grocery chain to add Palmetto Cheese to their entire store list (85 stores) and allocating marketing resources to grow the brand across their geography (Carolinas and Georgia)
December 2009
Time to get social!
Palmetto Cheese decides to go all in with Facebook and reaches 1,000 fans. Today, Palmetto Cheese has a vibrant and passionate fan base with over 290,000 followers with fresh content and giveaways posted each and every day!
December 2010
Southern Living
Palmetto Cheese first appeared in Southern Living Magazine and went on to be in the Dec. 2010, Feb 2012, and Sept 2015 issue where it was named the “staff favorite”.
May 2011
Palmetto Cheese gets a more colorful and updated look with colored lids. Orange for Original and Green for Jalapeno. The Bacon variety is added in July 2011 and takes on a reddish colored lid.
February 2012
Palmetto Cheese is featured in the USA Today to highlight our success using Social Media.
June 2015
Pal
metto Cheese is offered in all Delta Sky Clubs in the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Travelers are able to enjoy a “southern” treat while on their way through the South’s largest city.
January 2016
Palmetto Cheese becomes the #1 selling pimento cheese brand in the US and reaches over 8,700 stores in 40 states.
October/November 2016
Bon Appetit Magazine uses Palmetto Cheese in multiple recipes and articles on their site and as well as social media. Pimento Cheese Shrimp and Grits video has over 5 million views.
January 2017
The first edition of the Soul Happy Palmetto Cheese Cookbook is printed. The cookbook features over 40 recipes and serving ideas using Palmetto Cheese.