In the run up to St. Patrick's Day and Easter, potato demand in the US usually increases. At present, the market is a bit flat, but that is usual for this time of the year; suppliers are also tighter, but in general the outlook is positive.
Eric Beck, Marketing Director at Wada Farms explains that lower yields and forecasts of less-than-average pack outs have led the industry to think that supplies will tighten up in the early months of summer. In effect, this has warranted a strengthening market until the onset of the 2016 storage crop.
Potandon Produce’s Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Innovation, Ralph Schwartz, agreed that the market is a little tighter than usual, saying that the russet market has been steady since the first of the year both from a supply and price standpoint.
“This is the time of year when Potandon really sees a huge increase in demand on our Klondike Goldust yellow potatoes,” Ralph says. “Although supplies are tighter than usual this year, we expect to have no gaps until we start shipping new crop from Arizona in late May.”
RPE’s Randy Shell, Vice President of Marketing, says that prices are very promotable while still delivering good margins for retailers at present, with supplies in most areas outweighing demand.
“Large size russets are in good demand which could push pricing up slightly. Overall pricing will be determined by grower pack-outs and demand as we go through the remainder of the storage crop.”
With the start of the Florida harvest, Ralph says that red and white potato volume has picked up.
