the scoop on gullah gourmet

We are located in Charleston, South Carolina, a town known for its rich history, beautiful surroundings, and delicious cuisine. We offer gourmet meals, dips, desserts, dressings, sauces, and breads in eyecatching cloth bags with beautiful graphics.  We cut the fabric, screenprint the designs, sew, bag,and tie our products by hand, right here in the lowcountry.  Yes, we are very proud to say that our products are made in the USA and are offered to the world.   We also have a beautiful gift shop full of wonderful  low country  goodies and other gift items.  If you're ever in Charleston, be sure to stop by and say Hello! 

Here's a little about how we got started from the owner herself:   “In 1993 I had a small Gourmet Basket Shop in the famous tourist area of the downtown Charleston Market.   We would have many tourists come in that would have tasted Shrimp & Grits in one of our wonderful restaurants.  They would want a recipe to take home.  At the time we carried all of the local cookbooks and none of them had recipes for that, so I knew that would be a great first product.  I wanted it to be eye catching, taste as if the finest chef in town had prepared it, and be easy because I am not a cook.  I wanted the background of the bags to look like newspaper print because when I was younger and went into seafood houses to purchase fresh seafood, they would wrap it in newspaper for you to take home.  I also wanted to incorporate the Gullah language on the back of the bags.”

“Gullah is a language that is a mixture of Elizabethan English and African that is spoken rapidly, in a rhythm, and is rather difficult to understand.  Of course, it had to be modified, because if it were true Gullah, most people would not understand it and not be able to prepare the product.  As a child I would love to listen to the Gullah language, and all of the stories and the songs still ring in my head.  The language is still spoken on the outer islands around our area.  It is almost a lost language, and I wanted to try to keep it alive and pay homage to the colorful culture and people.  In other words, when someone buys a package of Gullah Gourmet, I not only want them to take home the flavor of Charleston, but also a bit of the culture.” 

 We went to work on this new venture in 1994 with four products and have been so blessed the whole way through.  Now, seventeen years later, we have thirty-four bagged products, twenty-four bottled and jarred products, canned crab meat, and a variety of Gullah and Charleston gifts.  We are proud to say that we have been featured on the “Food Network” many times, the first of which was the ”Food Finds program. The most recent production was with Paula Deen's sons, Jamie and Bobby, on their show Road Tasted.   We have been chosen As Editor’s Favorites in “Southern Living Magazine”.  We have won  “BEST OF LA” and “BEST OF ATLANTA” for taste as well as packaging at the International Americas Mart.  Our products are now known worldwide and are award winners for taste as well as packaging.”

By the Grace of God, the support of our customers , family, friends, and hardworking staff, we continue to grow and offer the best of the best!

We thank you! 

Deborah G. Nelson, President

Gullah Gourmet, Inc.