About Us

Gullah Gourmet is located in Charleston, South Carolina, a town known for its rich history, beautiful surroundings and delicious cuisine. Our goal is to give you a taste of what good food and good living is like in the Lowcountry. We offer gourmet meals, dips, desserts, dressings, sauces, and breads in eye-catching cloth bags screen printed with beautiful graphics. The best part? They're all quick, easy & delicious! We cut the fabric, screen print 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!

In our retail space, we also have a beautiful gift shop full of wonderful Lowcountry goodies and many one-of-a-kind finds for all occasions. We love to create custom gift baskets and packages for weddings, corporate events, showers, anniversaries or “just because.” If you ever find yourself in Charleston, be sure to stop by and say Hello!

Here's a little about how we got started from the owner herself:

“In 1994 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.

“The Gullah dialect is a mixture of Elizabethan English and various African dialects that is beautifully rhythmic, though it can sometimes be rather difficult to understand. We have simplified the language in our products' instructions, because if it were true Gullah most people today would not understand it. As a child, I would love to listen to the Gullah language and all of the stories and the songs that still ring in my head. The language is still spoken on some of the outer islands around our area, but it is almost a lost language and I wanted to try to keep it alive and pay homage to the vibrant 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 Lowcountry culture.

“Twenty-eight years after our first products, we have not only Shrimp & Grits and She Crab Soup, but over thirty bagged products, twenty-four bottled and jarred products, 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 Jamie and Bobby Deen, on their show ”Road Tasted”. We have been chosen As Editor’s Favorites in “Southern Living Magazine” and “Every Day with Rachael Ray”. 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.

I thank the Lord for our many blessings through the years. I am so very grateful for 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 Nelson
President
Gullah Gourmet, Inc.