Eagle Eye Produce, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is one of the few grower-shippers where a foodservice customer can load Idaho-grown russet, red and yellow potatoes all on the same truck from the same facility year-round, according to sale manager Coleman Oswald.
No matter the time of year, those products are not brought in from other areas for consolidation, Oswald said. “We actually grow it locally, then pack it and store it at the Idaho Falls facility where it can be loaded every week of the year,” he said. “We are one of the first companies to offer that.”
For customers needing onions as well as potatoes, Eagle Eye has an onion facility in Nyssa, Ore., just across the Idaho state line. Four years ago, Eagle Eye also purchased the Keegan potato facility in Twin Falls, Idaho.
“Then we’ve got our big Washington facility,” Oswald said. For customers on the West Coast, Eagle Eye has side-by-side potato and onion facilities in Mattawa, Wash., “so we are able to load mixers out of the Northwest with Russet potatoes and reds and yellows and onions on the same truck up there as well.”
A major focus for Eagle Eye Produce at the PMA Foodservice show this year, he said, is that “we are your one-stop shop for potato needs regardless of the variety — and for your onions a well. So you can use a single supplier for all of those SKUs. We feel like we have strategically placed our facilities in a manner that we have got all areas covered extremely well, servicing the west coat from Washington and the rest of the country to the east and south out of Idaho.”
Eagle Eye’s Washington operation is a partnership with Dell Christensen & Sons. “We have an exclusive marketing agreement with them, so we market all of their supply,” Oswald said.
The Nyssa facility is a partnership with Fiesta Farms, so that is now part of the Eagle Eye family of companies. Both the Idaho Falls facility and the Twin Falls facility are wholly owned by Eagle Eye.
Foodservice, along with “a couple of very good retail customers” has constituted the backbone of Eagle Eye’s business since its founding, Oswald said, noting that the company has invested heavily in its ability to service that sector. The facilities in Washington and Idaho “really cater toward foodservice, and we do a great job of packing the cartons,” he added.
Potatoes and onions are not all that Eagle Eye will be showcasing at the PMA Foodservice show, however. “Eagle Eye is not just a potato and onion company. We are a produce company representing five major commodity groups. The other three groups are watermelons, table grapes, and dry vegetables out of Nogales, Ariz., such as bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and other squash, available from late September through about April 1. We are truly the grower, packer and shipper for all of those items, and we have our own facilities and farms,” he said.