“As we look at demands in the potato and onion category, we feel real encouraged by our category” of fresh-market red potatoes, said Keith Groven, fresh sales manager of Black Gold Farms. The firm also is a substantial shipper of sweet potatoes.

“The russet category continues to shrink year on year,” Groven noted. “But sweet and red potatoes have slight to aggressive growth in both segments. That is giving us a lot of options and opportunities.”

Promoting Black Gold Farms in Atlanta for the PMA Fresh Summit were Martin Coleman, David Bain, Don Ladhoff and Leah Brakke.Leah Brakke, marketing and key account manager, added that Black Gold is an expert in red potato marketing and is providing retailers with “the necessary tools and resources to promote reds.”

Groven said that Black Gold, which is based in Grand Forks, ND, but has various farms and processing in many states, has a long, year-round potato industry experience. “We understand the needs of our retail partners. We have overlapping resources and areas of expertise across the board.”

Groven said the Red River Valley red potato crop in 2015 had “fantastic yields from one end of the valley to the other. The inventory is larger than we’ve had and it is a supply and demand driven product. The prices have gone lower but that allows promotions on a scale we’ve not had in the past at price points we’ve not had in the past.”

These low prices “are not sustainable at the level they are now. But we will make it through. In sales of perishable items there is market volatility all the time. The prices are lower than we’d like to see. We have what we have and we are getting movement on red potatoes. We know the market will always change.”

Brakke added, “It has forced us to be creative in merchandising. And to add value with our products. This has been a real exercise in promoting our products. It is much better to wake up thinking about today’s opportunities than thinking ‘Oh no!’ ”

Groven said Black Gold’s Red River Valley red potatoes will be shipped into April. Then, “we will move on to our other growing areas.”