While Wada Farms has long earned its descriptor as one of the largest grower-shippers of potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes, recently it has expanded its offerings to a great extent to assure year-round availability, especially on its signature potato varieties.
Kevin Stanger
“The last couple of years, we have filled in any small gaps that we had, especially on the chippers, to make sure we can offer our customers a steady supply of potatoes all year-long,” said Kevin Stanger, president of the Idaho Falls, ID-based company.
He added that they have filled those chipper gaps as well as found extra options for the colored potato varieties. In mid-June, Stanger said there was not much information to relay about the upcoming 2024/25 crop, which will be dug in late summer/early fall. “We will start to get an idea on acreage next week, but Mother Nature will either throw us a rose or a punch in the stomach over the next few months which will determine the size of the crop,” he said, adding that the crop looks good above ground, but the only accurate gauge comes with a shovel in the dirt closer to harvest.
The Wada Farms executive said the expectations are that acreage will be down a bit, as usually happens after a rough season. The potato industry has had several very good years, initially boosted by pandemic panic buying in early 2020. With most restaurants shut down in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, consumers were stocking up on the always economically friendly fresh potato option. It was difficult for retailers to keep the shelves stocked. As a result, FOB prices soared. That strong market lasted for quite some time, but not this year.
“The current season is a blood bath,” said Stanger, noting that oversupply has been the issue, with potatoes selling for much lower FOB prices than they commanded over the past few years.
At the upcoming International Fresh Produce Association Foodservice Conference in Monterey, CA, Stanger said the company’s fresh potato pitch should resonate well, as potatoes remain a foodservice staple. Of course, we know fries continue to be a mainstay at fast food restaurants, but he said the entire foodservice sector utilizes one potato variety or another, allowing for robust sales. Stanger estimated that foodservice sales represent about 50 percent of Wada Farms volume with retailers taking 40 percent and wholesalers the remaining 10 percent.
He noted that yellow and red potatoes along with fingerlings and other specialty products are well represented on the menus of high-end restaurants while the mom and pop steakhouses around the country still feature the biggest baked potato they can find to go along with their huge portion ribeye or New York steak.
“Russet potatoes are still the No. 1 draw for restaurants,” he said, but did add that the other varieties are also becoming increasingly popular.
Though it hasn’t been an especially good year for potato prices, Stanger said potatoes typically shine when the economic situation is facing a downturn as the potato is still one of the best buys, if not the best per pound buy, in the industry, both retail and foodservice.
He added that while foodservice sales dropped to near nothing in 2020, they have bounced back significantly over the last several years. “Our foodservice sales are back to pre-COVID-19 levels,” Stanger observed.
He added that the IFPA is an excellent show for Wada Farms as it is well attended by foodservice buyers, which are a very important sector for the grower shipper. “We get to see a lot of our customers in one place,” he said. “Of course, we don’t get to see everybody but there are more foodservice people at this show than any other produce show.”
He noted that he has been going to The Foodservice Conference for about 30 years and has watched it grow immensely. He said in the early days, the exhibitors could hardly fill the foyer and now it is a robust show with great attendance and programs.
Tim Linden grew up in a produce family as both his father and grandfather spent their business careers on the wholesale terminal markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tim graduated from San Diego State University in 1974 with a degree in journalism. Shortly thereafter he began his career at The Packer where he stayed for eight years, leaving in 1983 to join Western Growers as editor of its monthly magazine. In 1986, Tim launched Champ Publishing as an agricultural publishing specialty company.
Today he is a contract publisher for several trade associations and writes extensively on all aspects of the produce business. He began writing for The Produce News in 1997, and currently wears the title of Editor at Large.