Gianfranco Franzone, partner at the Toronto, ON division of Nogales’ Arizona Sky Produce, Inc., observes, “In the last year, we’ve sold a lot of red B potatoes, especially for foodservice. The smaller size is really appealing to consumers.”
Cutler, too, is enthusiastic about new potato varieties. “There are new apple varieties being developed all the time—some of which are heirlooms being rediscovered. That’s a trend with potatoes, too. There are two reds—Viking, which is being grown in Texas, and Pontiac, which tastes delicious but has big eyes. Yukon Golds were new to most people in the 1980s, but now they’re staples.”
“We’ve made a significant investment in potato seed and breeding over the last decade,” shares Ralph Schwartz, vice president of sales and marketing at Potandon Produce, LLC in Idaho Falls, ID. A company subsidiary, SunRain Potato Varieties, continues to work on developing high-yield, disease- and pest-resistant varieties that will store well and “meet the ever-changing needs of the marketplace.” Some of the more colorful cultivars from SunRain include the pink-flesh Vermillion, yellow-flesh Smiling Rose, and the Blue Belle, “a yellow potato with splashes of purple around the eyes.”
Roy Hinchey is CEO of Thomas Fresh, Inc., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. “We’re all looking for the next big thing,” he says. “We saw 169 different potatoes in Holland and of those we picked a couple for their extraordinary taste. The Prima Gold tastes like it just came out of the ground even after six months in storage. This potato boasts a high yield, so it uses fewer resources.
“There’s another potato called Poppy,” Hinchey continues. “It’s the reddest red potato you’ve ever seen and will be ready in the next couple years. When it goes on the market, our plan is to donate a portion of the proceeds to veterans’ causes in honor of Remembrance Day, which is Canada’s version of Veterans’ Day.”
Kendra Mills, marketing manager for the Prince Edward Island Potato Board in Charlottetown, believes the “bright lights of our industry are the creamers and colorful varieties. They’re flavorful, quick cooking, and don’t have to be peeled.”
The PEI Potato Board’s general manager, Greg Donald, sees opportunities with organic potatoes. “So far, organic growers are meeting the demands of the market. They’ll increase production as demand increases. The percentage of organics is still single digits, but it’s growing.”
Transportation & Shipping Trends
The Idaho Potato Commission reports 65 percent of potatoes are shipped by truck and 35 percent by rail. “Even though rail freight can save up to 15 percent to certain destinations like the Southeast, it can take considerably longer,” explains Paul Dolan, general manager for Associated Potato Growers, Inc. in Grand Forks, ND. In the Northeast, he adds, many receivers are unable to accept the larger cars used by the railroads. “There is not the freight advantage to the Northeast that there is to the Southeast.”
