In a world that celebrates such culinary darlings as microgreens and Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes and onions are still an invaluable part of any kitchen. Flavorful, pungent onions and always comforting potatoes are both so highly nutritious and versatile they are still essential to any cuisine.
POTATOES
Potatoes found their way to Europe via Spanish ships during the sixteenth century. After initial disdain, it became apparent the homely vegetable could grow easily in cooler climes with poor soil while yielding enough food to sustain whole families and their livestock. Northern Europeans developed a taste for potatoes—and the rest is history.
Shrinking Demand Spawns Innovation
Despite consumer interest in healthier eating, consumption rates for some commodities, including potatoes, have seesawed. Growers and suppliers in the industry are well aware of this fact, and have been working to put potatoes—in bulk, fresh-cut, and microwave-ready forms—back into the hands of consumers. From school children and millennials to Gen X and Baby Boomers, there’s a potato for you.
A top draw for spud suppliers is more convenience. Kevin Stanger, president of Wada Farms Marketing Group, LLC in Idaho Falls, ID sees many new opportunities in packaging that address convenience. “Our ‘Microwave in Bag’ line features graphics that highlight the timesaving convenience to consumers,” he says. The company also offers several potato and package sizes to align with household size.
The growth of low carbohydrate diets such as Atkins and South Beach have also been a factor in potato consumption. Promoting protein over starches, many believe these diets contributed to a nearly 25 percent decline in all forms of potato consumption.
Ed Romanelli, vice president for sales and marketing at Chicago-based Agrow Fresh Produce, Inc., opines, “Consumers tend to take what they see and hear in the media as fact and many of today’s diets have demonized potatoes and carbohydrates. Potatoes are a healthful, almost perfect food—low in calories and high in potassium and Vitamin C, but the challenge is getting this message to the public.”
Other foods vie for the limited amount of carbs people are willing to put on their plates. Besides rice and pasta, “Potatoes also have to compete with cauliflower, being marketed as a substitute,” points out Harris Cutler, president of Race-West Company in Clarks Summit, PA.
Hot Potato(es)
Potatoes USA, a trade group that supports the nation’s commercial potato growers, categorizes the over 100 commercially-grown potato varieties into seven types: russet, red, white, yellow, blue/purple, fingerling, and petite. While 46 percent of potatoes grown are the familiar russets, growers have been experimenting with new cultivars developed from red, white, gold, and blue potatoes.
In a world that celebrates such culinary darlings as microgreens and Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes and onions are still an invaluable part of any kitchen. Flavorful, pungent onions and always comforting potatoes are both so highly nutritious and versatile they are still essential to any cuisine.
POTATOES
Potatoes found their way to Europe via Spanish ships during the sixteenth century. After initial disdain, it became apparent the homely vegetable could grow easily in cooler climes with poor soil while yielding enough food to sustain whole families and their livestock. Northern Europeans developed a taste for potatoes—and the rest is history.
Shrinking Demand Spawns Innovation
Despite consumer interest in healthier eating, consumption rates for some commodities, including potatoes, have seesawed. Growers and suppliers in the industry are well aware of this fact, and have been working to put potatoes—in bulk, fresh-cut, and microwave-ready forms—back into the hands of consumers. From school children and millennials to Gen X and Baby Boomers, there’s a potato for you.
A top draw for spud suppliers is more convenience. Kevin Stanger, president of Wada Farms Marketing Group, LLC in Idaho Falls, ID sees many new opportunities in packaging that address convenience. “Our ‘Microwave in Bag’ line features graphics that highlight the timesaving convenience to consumers,” he says. The company also offers several potato and package sizes to align with household size.
The growth of low carbohydrate diets such as Atkins and South Beach have also been a factor in potato consumption. Promoting protein over starches, many believe these diets contributed to a nearly 25 percent decline in all forms of potato consumption.
Ed Romanelli, vice president for sales and marketing at Chicago-based Agrow Fresh Produce, Inc., opines, “Consumers tend to take what they see and hear in the media as fact and many of today’s diets have demonized potatoes and carbohydrates. Potatoes are a healthful, almost perfect food—low in calories and high in potassium and Vitamin C, but the challenge is getting this message to the public.”
Other foods vie for the limited amount of carbs people are willing to put on their plates. Besides rice and pasta, “Potatoes also have to compete with cauliflower, being marketed as a substitute,” points out Harris Cutler, president of Race-West Company in Clarks Summit, PA.
Hot Potato(es)
Potatoes USA, a trade group that supports the nation’s commercial potato growers, categorizes the over 100 commercially-grown potato varieties into seven types: russet, red, white, yellow, blue/purple, fingerling, and petite. While 46 percent of potatoes grown are the familiar russets, growers have been experimenting with new cultivars developed from red, white, gold, and blue potatoes.
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.”
Stanger makes a similar observation, finding “receivers are taking out rail sidings because many don’t want to hold so much inventory. Rail is cheaper than trucking, but there are other factors—such as speed of delivery—that can outweigh the added cost.”
Challenges and Competition
Whether it’s competition from other foods or other regions, potato growers must be keenly aware of timing and market trends to stay successful. For Art Peterson, president of Peterson Bros. River Valley Farms, Inc. in Big Lake MN, the challenge is from other states. “When we start our harvest at the end of July, we’re competing with Texas potatoes. Wisconsin begins about a week after us, then there’s always the challenge of finding enough labor.”
The issue of labor is on everyone’s mind. “With low unemployment, workers have other options,” remarks Stanger. “Minimum wage is on the rise but crop prices are hovering where they were 20 years ago.” As for competition, Stanger sees it on two fronts: “In Idaho, besides competing against each other, we’re competing against other states. We’re also competing against alternatives to potatoes; some consumers are avoiding carbohydrates altogether, even though the American Heart Association has given potatoes its blessing.”
Canadians are dealing with the same obstacles. “Potato consumption is down in Canada due to smaller families and changing tastes for items like kale, quinoa, and other grains,” says Mills. “We’re constantly using social media to promote recipes and the fact that potatoes are high in important nutrients with no more calories than an apple.”
Art Miller, president of Epic Produce LLC in Phoenix, has also been facing some trade challenges. “We have our own label of Colorado-grown russets for export to Mexico, but Mexico has restrictions on importing potatoes because they grow their own,” he explains. And although there are negotiations to open more of the country to U.S. exports, the U.S. presidential election may have an impact.
“Mexican growers feel they need price protection because they hand-harvest potatoes, making them more expensive than American grown, machine-harvested russets. Restrictions enable Mexican growers to keep prices higher, but not so high that it puts them out of reach for Mexican consumers,” Miller says. He also cites other challenges, including “labor, water, and the uncertainty of relations with Mexico under our new president.” Ultimately, he says, “We’re optimistic; we’ve managed to figure it out before.”
ONIONS
French chef Julia Child famously said, “It’s hard to imagine civilization without onions.” Part of the original ‘Paleo diet,’ early growers learned quickly that onions were less perishable than other foods, and could be grown in many soils and climates.
Sweets and More
Onions are generally grouped into three categories: spring green, summer fresh, and fall/winter storage. While pungent, thicker-skinned storage onions account for most production, the success of sweet varieties has contributed to an overall increase in consumption by 20 percent in the last 30 years.
Ralph Schwartz, VP of marketing and sales at Potandon Produce, LLC in Idaho Falls, ID remarks, “Sweet onions are a well-established category. In the past, mostly we sold in bulk with stickers displaying the variety.” Now, he says, the trend is smaller bags with more information for consumers. “Additionally, sweet onions have found their way into packaged products such as barbecue sauce and salad dressings.”
Branded sweet onions command a premium price, so breeders continue to develop new cultivars to meet demand. John Vlahandreas, onion program director for Wada Farms explains, “Seed technology and growing practices have made for longer seasons and higher yields for sweet onions.” And when supply runs short, suppliers can now reach out to both domestic and international growers for more. “We fill in with Mexican and Peruvian sweets, Vidalias, and Walla Wallas,” he says.
Stefan Matheny, director of sales at River Point Farms in Hermiston, OR, says today’s packaging offers more space for recipes and branding messages. “The wineglass labels and bags with wraparound labels help merchandise our Hermiston Sweets in stores,” he relates. “We also do a large volume with fresh-cut onions,” he says, for both foodservice and industrial customers.
Arizona Sky’s Franzone sees growth in red onions and especially organics. “Red onions have grown exponentially over the years, especially in the multicultural areas of Canada where they are a staple in most East Indian and Asian households.” He notes modest growth in organics, too, on both the onion and potato sides. “This goes along with the industrywide demand for organics in the past several years.”
Transportation & Shipping
Since onions can be fussy travelers, maintaining temperature and timely delivery are crucial, whether by rail or truck. Matheny says his company relies mostly on trucks, but also utilizes rail.
“We use both trucks and rail,” comments Vlahandreas. “You get a more favorable price shipping by rail, but it can take double the time. And since a rail car holds three times [as much as] a truck, the determining factor will often be the size of the destination warehouse.”
Challenges and Competition
Keeping consumers supplied with onions throughout the year is good for the industry, but presents challenges to suppliers. Many cite other onion growing and marketing regions as their competition, while for others, it’s a matter of overlapping seasons and access to markets.
Derek Ennis, sales manager for potatoes and onions at L&M Companies, Inc. headquartered in Raleigh, NC, discusses the ups and downs. With depressed markets for row crops, Ennis says some of these growers are jumping into onions instead, seeing “a potential to make more money with fresh crops. In a good year, this can lead to an oversupply.”
Which, of course, happened. “The onion market is the lowest it’s been in recent years,” continues Ennis. “With limited onion storage, many growers are pushing product into the market and that’s one reason it’s so flooded. Hopefully, we’ll see the market stabilize so everyone can make a profit.” He also sees this as a reason “for getting into more organics and sweet onions, which are more profitable.”
Building strategic relationships is another way to survive. Whether joining forces for marketing, offering custom packaging, or weighing in on future volume, some growers and distributors are partnering to hedge their seasonal bets. Matheny, for one, believes the collaboration pays off: “By contracting and selling products before we plant, we’re able to stabilize our customers’ costs.”
So whether you source or sell onions or potatoes, these staples may not be as glamorous as other fruits and vegetables, but both are innovating to stay on plates and in meals.
Photograph courtesy of River Point Farms, Hermiston, OR Images: Daxlao Productions, Luisa Fumi & pathdoc/Shuterstock.com
