News on The Potato Supply Chain from Colorado

Just days before his Center, CO, operation kicked off its 2020 San Luis Valley potato season, Skyline Potato Co. General Manager Les Alderete said he was optimistic about the overall market situation and the coming year.

MountainKing Potatoes has added Cindy Adkins, a former owner and operator of the nation's largest certified organic packer of fingerling potatoes, to its team of sales representatives, the company says in a press release recently issued.

Retail potato sales in the United States are soaring, increasing 31% in dollar sales and 32% in volume sales between March 16, 2020 and June 14, 2020, according to IRI.

Retail potato sales soar, increasing 10.4% in dollar sales and 9.3% in volume sales between July 1, 2019, and May 19, 2020, according to IRI. All potato categories across the retail store, except deli-prepared sides, increased in dollar and volume sales, according to a report by Potatoes USA.

The utilization of U.S. grown potatoes increased by 3.3% in volume in 2019 compared to 2018, an increase of 1,183 million pounds.

Potatoes USA, the marketing and promotion board for the U.S. potato industry, elected its new leadership during its 48th Annual Meeting on March 11. The newly elected Chairman and Executive Committee will lead the 99 board members through 2020-2021.

Five months into the shipping season, Michele Peterson, who heads the Colorado sales office of Idaho Falls-based Wada Farms Marketing Group, was seeing the quality of the 2019 potato harvest in Colorado’s San Luis Valley measure up to her expectations.

Scientists have developed a user-friendly online tool called Uniqprimer, which quickly and automatically designs species-specific DNA tags (also known as primers) for detecting pathogens such as Dickeya dianthicola using DNA testing.

Overall, U.S. potato imports declined slightly during the first quarter (July – September) of the July 2019 – June 2020 marketing year compared to the previous year, dipping 12% in volume and 2% in value.

In response to the explosive growth and demand for smaller-sized potatoes in smaller-sized bags.

United States potato exports of frozen, dehy and fresh have all posted modest gains through the first three quarters of the July 2018 – June 2019 marketing year.

Potatoes USA has launched a video campaign on social media to boost the image of potatoes by focusing on their performance-boosting benefits

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees to fill 56 producer and two importer member seats on the National Potato Promotion Board.

The Potatoes USA, 2018 Annual Meeting came to a close last week with the election of a new Board Chairman and Executive Committee.

August was a great month for retail potato sales in the United States, with all categories enjoying volume growth when compared to the same four weeks a year ago.

After a record export of potatoes and potato products from the United States in the period from July 2016 to June 2017, Potatoes USA reported that export in the month of July was up compared to July last year.

Exports of all United States potatoes and potato products reached a record $1,758,130,172 for the July 2016 – June 2017 marketing year. U.S. exports also achieved a record volume level of 1,712,364 metric tons (MT).

Chef RJ Harvey has joined Potatoes USA as the Global Foodservice Marketing Manager.