The results of a recent study examining the impact of COVID-19 on outdoor grilling indicate this summer’s fresh produce sales may be more robust than ever as U.S. households break in the more than $4.9 billion spent in 2020 on grills, smokers, camping stoves, accessories and fuel.

Noting that “there are still a lot of potatoes out there,” Skyline Potato Co. General Manager Les Alderete said his Center, CO, shed will ship the remainder of its 2020 crop into August this year.

He added, “We have quite a bit left, and we think we’ll go the first two weeks into August, about a week or so longer than normal if demand keeps up.”

Potato sales for Q3 (January through March 2021) of marketing year 2021 have caught up to the changed buying habits that the pandemic brought about. March 2020 was an unprecedented time for potato sales in grocery stores as panic buying began a yearlong streak of record-high sales in dollars and volume. It is no surprise that sales in March of 2021 could not keep up with the buying patterns that occurred in that crazy month a year ago.

Progressive Produce will begin shipping its strongest supply of nutritious and versatile potatoes and asparagus to shoppers across the United States and Canada.

The Mexican Supreme Court ruled April 28 by a unanimous vote of five to zero in favor of overturning a 2017 lower court decision that prevented the Mexican federal government from implementing regulations to allow for the importation of fresh U.S. potatoes throughout the country. The ruling, cheered by the National Potato Council and Potatoes USA, marks the end of a decades-long legal process that began when Mexico’s potato industry sued its government to prevent competition from imports.

Starting April 26, Cal-Organic Farms, one of the nation’s largest producer of organic vegetables, will start shipping freshly harvested, new crop red and gold potatoes to customers from its facility in Lamont, CA. The company’s organic rainbow fingerling variety is set to ship mid-May and organic russets will follow in mid-June.