George Wooten, president of Wayne E. Bailey, headquartered in Chadbourn, NC, seems to always be coming up with some new way to utilize sweet potatoes, but this time he may have even outdone himself.

On Sept. 18, he told The Produce News that his daughter, Mary Margaret Wooten, was married to Anthony Lynn Nealey the previous weekend, and sweet potatoes had a lot to do with the affair.

“The wedding was a good Christian marriage between man and woman,” said Wooten. “But in the wedding we made good use of the product that God gave us to grow — sweet potatoes. Besides being featured in several of the dishes served at the reception, sweet potato flowers were used to make my boutonniere.”

The delicate lavender sweet potato flowers were also used to accent the bride’s bouquet and the floral centerpieces for the dining tables at the reception.

George Wooten with his daughter Mary Margaret Wooten on her wedding day in early September.“Over the years we’ve done just about everything you could think of in ways of using sweet potatoes,” said Wooten. “Our company produces all sizes of sweet potatoes, including fingerlings, a value added sweet potato line, processed, fresh cut, frozen, freeze-dried and even sweet potato leaves. But as far as I know, using the flowers as an accent in a wedding was a new one.”

Sweet potato leaves, he noted, are very healthy and are a traditional item in many Asian markets.

Regarding sweet potato production this year, Wooten said that Wayne E. Bailey’s crop and some of its growing partners in North Carolina are down by about 10 percent.

“The sweet potato market is highly competitive today, and so growers are choosing to plant other commodity items that they can make more money on,” Wooten explained. “With this shortage and slow start, prices are already four to five dollars higher than they were last year. They’ve jumped from $14-16 a box this time last year to $18-20 now.”

Sweet potato shortages are expected across the country this year. (See The Produce News, “Strong demand and decreased supply expected to strengthen sweet potato prices,” July 19, 2013).

Wooten said that strategic planning on his own farms and with the company’s network of growing partners has helped to insure that the company will have supplies to satisfy its customers’ needs this year.

“Things will start to look pretty tight on stored sweet potatoes as we head into next summer,” he added. “From that point we’ll likely see limited supplies until the 2014 crop is ready to be harvested. We’ll be prepared to start as soon as the Lord will allow.”

This year’s shortage is not keeping Wayne E. Bailey from its ongoing and continuous facility updates. In late spring and early summer it installed new baggers from Giro Pack. The bagger does a full wrap label that is welded to the bag for an improved appearance.

The company also developed a new bag for its Canadian customers under the “We Be Yammin” label.

“Our business in Canada has grown considerably in recent years,” said Wooten. “But many opportunities still exist there that we have yet to tap into. Canadians are a very health- and nutritious-conscious group of consumers, and sweet potatoes fit into their menus perfectly.”

Besides its own numerous brand names the company also packs the “Green Giant Fresh” sweet potato line. Wooten said that representatives from Wayne E. Bailey would be at the “Green Giant Fresh” booth, number 3225, at the upcoming Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in New Orleans on Oct. 18-20.

“We had an excellent year in sales in the past year,” said Wooten. “We expect the demand for sweet potatoes to continue to rise as increasingly more consumers are educated about the outstanding health benefits, the great flavor and the nearly endless ways to prepare them year-round.”