EEUU: Wisconsin potato market sees new opportunities

Dana Radey, director of promotions, communication and consumer education for the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association, Antigo, Wis., said one of these developments is the Little Potato Co. opening a facility in the Madison, Wis., area and currently contracting with five Wisconsin potato growers to produce potatoes on a total of about 450 acres this year.

“The Little Potato Co. expects to work with additional Wisconsin growers next year,” she said.

Andy Diercks, vice president for Coloma Farms Inc., Coloma, Wis., said his company is one of the Wisconsin growers to partner with the Little Potato Co.

“This year we are growing small potatoes for the Little Potato Co.,” he said. “They are in the process of building their first U.S. plant near Madison and we’re very excited to be growing reds and yellows for that facility. They are a Canadian company that is well established in the packing and marketing of small potatoes, so we look forward to working with them as they grow here.”

Diercks said Coloma Farms operates its own packing shed that runs from the beginning of harvest, around Aug. 1, through Christmas most years. “We also have 60 new acres coming into production this fall that we plan to keep organic if that can be managed within our production system,” he said.

Dick Okray, owner of Okray Family Farms Inc., Plover, Wis., said this season for the first time, the company is growing 20 acres of mercury russets, which have a better shape and color than a traditional russet.

“With sales, it boils down to how sexy a potato looks,” he said. “The ultimate test is if consumers like the taste.”

Mike Carter, CEO for Bushmans’ Inc., Rosholt, Wis., said the company will offer new pillow packs that provide consumers a ready-to-warm-and-serve product for a family. “This pack allows for convenience of a single-serve, pre-washed pack,” he said.