Born and raised in Dutchess County, Richard Romano ventured off to the City after finishing school, as many Upstate New Yorkers do. There, he began his career in the restaurant business, working as an executive chef, a general manager, and working his way up to opening restaurants for notable chefs and “restauranteurs”.

Richard and his wife, Alicia, traveled upstate working on a consulting gig that lasted about a year. At the time Alicia was pregnant with their son and moving back to the city was no longer an option. After working different jobs here and there, nothing really stuck for Richard, and then their son was born 13 weeks early at 1 pound, 14 ounces, 12 inches long. This changed Richard and Alicia’s life in a way that neither one of them every imagined.

“I guess thank god we lost our jobs because otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to be there every day visiting him.”

It was during all of this, shuttling their daughter to and from school, trying to explain to her what was happening with her little brother, that Alicia said to Richard, “stop giving everyone else’s their dream, and do ours. Do the onion thing.”

And so, “the onion thing” was born. In fact, it was created, at least a decade ago, before Richard made a living creating successful businesses for others in Manhattan. A friend of Richard’s moved out of the city, got a house, and was throwing a pool party.

“They told me to bring something but don’t bring alcohol, and I was like, what am I going to bring? I don’t know what to bring”

“And so, I had this really horrific sub-basement apartment, below where they throw out the garbage, it was 400 bucks a month, I didn’t even have a stove, all I had was a hot plate and a refrigerator.”

What Richard made for the pool party was a funny concoction he put in a mason jar, but it ended up being a hit, and ultimately ended up becoming, Screamin Onionz! From the hot plate in his New York City alleyway apartment, to a rented stove in Millbrook, Richard’s “onion thing” was off to the races.

Screamin’ Onionz are sliced NY State onions slow cooked in craft sauces made from just peppers, onions, garlic, and vinegar. They have Mild: sweet peppers, Medium: cherry peppers and Hot: cherry & cayenne peppers. It stands well on its own but can also be added to all of your favorite recipes for an extra punch of flavor. They have Onionz available in 15.5 oz jars for retail and 134 oz containers for Restaurants and Foodservice Institutions. Better yet, Screamin’ Onionz! also meshes with Whole30, vegan, and ketogenic diets. It also contains prebiotics that are necessary for good digestive health. Did we mention it is also locally sourced?

One of their first orders was for Adams Fairacre Farms for ten cases, which took Richard four days to make.

The couple spent a lot of time testing the market at festivals and farm markets, asking people what they thought, sampling, taking feedback, tweaking their recipe to give their customers exactly what they wanted. Most of 2014 they spent adjusting the recipe and building their brand.

Their first logo was an onion running, screaming, on fire, to represent the “Screamin Onion”, but they soon realized this gave customers the impression that their product was extremely hot even after creating a mild recipe. Their inspirations for their new logo actually came from their daughter.

Their official launch for Screamin’ Onionz!, mild, medium, and hot was local for the first three months and then they got into their first whole foods store. Within 10 months of that, they had half the northeast region and recently solidified business in Yonkers.

“The way people eat food has changed”, Alicia stated. She accredited their success to people taking more care to think about what is going into their bodies.

Given where Richard and Alicia started, their vision for the product is much bigger than onions and so is their ambition. Richard cites being where they are now to consistently being ahead of the curve and thinking bigger while still thinking local. With the heart of the brand being in the Hudson Valley, it is very important to the business to keep emphasis on doing what is right for the local communities.

This passion has lead to the expansion of the Screamin’ Onionz! brand into various local schools, colleges, and restaurants with more appearances anticipated in the near future. Recently, Screamin’ Onionz has been approved for Government Procurement. This means that they can now do business with government entities, such as; military bases, correctional facilities, and local, regional, and state municipalities.

Screamin’ Onionz! concentrates it’s charitable giving on NICU donations to help parents receive financial assistance to support them during a time that, Richard and Alicia understand themselves, is needed to allow parents to focus on giving their babies time to grow.

Keep up to date with their journey and find inspiration by following them on Instagram (@screaminonionz) or check out their website www.loveonionz.com.