Cavendish Farms Jamestown reduces potato imports from Manitoba

Potato Processor Cavendish Farms of Jamestown, North Dakota, United States, has reduced its contracts with Manitoba growers (Canada) to 305,000 hundredweight for 2014, according to Dan Sawatzky, manager for Keyston Potato Producers Association and a negotiator for this potato producer organization representing the Manitoba Potato Growers.

That is down from 613,000 hundredweight in 2013 and from as high as 1.8 million several years ago.

Cavendish has been able to source more of its product locally, Sawatzky says. Freight adds cost from Manitoba, but Sawatzky says recent shifts in the exchange rates between the two countries might allow some business to return to Canada “not only with Cavendish but with overall volumes.”