Transportation headaches aside, potato grower-shippers look forward to heavy promotions of high-quality spuds this holiday season.
Aberdeen, Idaho-based Pleasant Valley Potatoes Inc. expects strong winter holiday demand for abundant supplies of high-quality Russets, said Ryan Wahlen, the company’s sales manager.
“We’re looking forward to a good run here. The price isn’t necessarily where we want it to be now, but movement is good, Thanksgiving started strong, and we should have ample supplies of any and all ads retailers want to run.”
By the first week of November, most Idaho shippers were going full-tilt out of storage and liking what they saw, said Ralph Schwartz, vice president of marketing, sales and innovation for Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Potandon Produce.
“Everything looks great—Russets, yellows, reds, (other colors). We haven’t heard any stories yet” of quality problems in storage spuds, Schwartz said.
While few plans were nailed down in early November, as retailers focused on Thanksgiving, early indications were promotions should also be strong for Christmas, said Kevin Stanger, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Idaho Falls-based Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC. “We haven’t had any firm orders, but guys have kind of said they’d do more for Christmas.”
Strong demand this season from processing markets could tighten fresh-market supplies later in the season, Wahlen said, but that won’t affect fresh orders for Christmas: “We anticipate a strong holiday season.”
Pleasant Valley’s Christmas promotions vary from year to year depending on the makeup of that season’s crop, Wahlen said. This season, for instance, because of a smaller size profile, the company will be pushing 10-pound bags.
Potandon will focus its Christmas promotions on a couple of new products, Schwartz said—the Klondike Royale and Smileys. The Royale is a yellow-flesh variety with smooth, light golden skin accented with purple, kiss-shaped markings. Packaging features female cartoon fairies planting kisses on the potatoes.
The variety comes in 1-, 3- and 5-pound poly bags and a 3-pound pouch.
The Smiley line of B- and C-sized yellow-flesh potatoes will be rolled out on a much wider scale this season, Schwartz said.
In November Potandon was putting the finishing touches on videos about Royales and Smileys, which will be distributed to retailers for use in their promotions.
Wada Farms also will be pushing new products for the winter holidays this season, Stanger said. The company expects big sales of its new Tater Made eco-friendly bags, which are made in part from potato starches that have been converted into pellets. Up to 25 percent of each bag is made from spuds, and the bag is recyclable.
Wada Farms also looks forward to promoting its new Big Joe’s Chippers and Smalls packs this winter holiday season, Stanger said. Big Joe’s Chippers are chipping variety potatoes marketed for the fresh, not chipping, market. Foodservice purveyors cut the spuds into fries and chips. Smalls are artisan mini-potatoes available in red and gold varieties. Product comes in 1.25-pound bags, the back of which contains a vintage-looking illustrated mini-history of Wada Farms and preparation instructions.
After heavy Russet sales in November, Potandon looks forward to pushing its varietals for Christmas, Schwartz said. “In the first two weeks of December people are open to trying new things. When you have your neighbors over for dinner, you’re trying to impress them. Our varietals fit really strongly in that environment.”
Christmas, unlike Thanksgiving, can be hard to plan for, Wahlen said. But based on the 2013-14 season, he’s optimistic heading into December this year.
“Some years there’s not a lot going on, but last year we had a really strong December, and we hope that continues.”
Schwartz said all Idaho shippers benefit from their strong brand around Christmas. “You don’t want to take a risk around Christmas with family, and Idaho potatoes are synonymous with trust and quality.”
The one wrinkle this season for Idaho shippers could be transportation, Wahlen said.
“If this year is like the last few; we expect it to be fairly tight. We’ll try to use as much rail as we can.”
Schwartz agreed. He said orders were being placed earlier than usual to ensure trucks can be found to deliver them. “It already feels ugly,” he said the first week of November.
Stanger said the truck problems have been exacerbated by “horrendous” railroad delivery times this year.
Source: The Packer