Tomatoes and Duke's Mayo.
Name a more iconic duo.

These days there are lots of “holidays” that seem ready-built to pad out social content calendars. National Bring Your Squirrel To Work Day, anyone? But in the South, summertime is officially Tomato SZN, as people from Virginia to ‘Bama bust out the mayo and maters and go to town. As THE Mayo of the South, we decided Duke’s should own the season. And so, “Hot Tomato Summer” was born in the Summer of '21.

What is Hot Tomato Summer, exactly?

For starters, it's the worst time to be a tomato. But for local restaurants in some of Duke's key markets, it's like summer camp— if summer camp’s main activity is creating unique mayo and tomato dishes ranging from BLTs to Ice Cream to Beer (yes, really). What began as 12 restaurants participating in a week-long event in Richmond, VA, has grown to six southern cities with 300 participating restaurants over a span of 10 days.

Make it Hotter, Tomatoeyer, and Summeryier

Each year has brought new cities and new ways to get people excited. We have created swaths of merch for restaurants and fans alike. Everything from hats and fanny packs to swimsuits, totes, and LED signs has adorned the aforementioned fans and restaurants. But that was just the start of our innovations.

Venmayo

To encourage engagement during mealtime, we devised a brilliant idea: Let Duke's pay the tab. Whenever Tomato and Mayo lovers posted their lunch pic to socials, the Duke's team would reach out to winners in each market with some cash—a small price to pay for some authentic fandom.

The Golden Tomato Award

There are many awards in the gastronomical world. There's the Michelin Star, the James Beard Award, etc. But we saw a need for an award that captures fandom for local restaurants. Enter the Golden Tomato Award. In 2023, we introduced the award and it has since been a driving force for engagement both in restaurants and online, achieving over 31,000 votes in the first year alone!

HOLY HOTHOUSE, WHAT HAPPENED?

Hot Tomato Summer has grown beyond our wildest dreams. With 300 restaurants participating in 2024—and more and more signing up to serve Duke’s Mayo and Tomato dishes because they don’t want to miss out—it's hard to believe just how far this incredible event has come.

But, when you lean into the love that restaurants and fans have for Duke's, maybe it really isn't all that surprising. With the continued success of Hot Tomato Summer we’re already getting ready to blow it out of the water again next year, but for now, take a look at these hot metrics from 2024: