Aspen projects supplies through 2014 new crop
Aspen projects supplies through 2014 new crop
Aspen Produce sales agent Michele Peterson had a positive outlook overall for the remainder of the 2013-14 shipping season as it winds down, and she had good things to say about the state’s potato shippers regarding the challenges they faced with shorter supplies.
“The 2013-14 shipping season has been slower than in the past,” Peterson said April 7, adding, “However, shipments are matching the inventory available. Colorado has done an excellent job of managing their potato inventory and matching it to their sales.”
Aspen Produce, she said, “is currently projected to have enough supplies to get us through new crop.”
Aspen Produce partner Dwayne Weyers exchanges comments with Colorado Agriculture Commissioner John Salazar at the March 26 celebration of Colorado Ag Day in the rotunda of the state capitol building in Denver. Primarily due to the water shortage in the region, overall potato acreage in the San Luis Valley has declined, and at 50,000 acres, 2013 was down 10 percent from the previous year. Water remains the number-one challenge Aspen and other potato companies face, Peterson said. She added that snowpack in the San Juan Mountains, which feed the valley’s water supply, was at 76 percent.
As the operation makes plans for the 2014 season and continues to move storage spuds, the sales team welcomed Jake Burris. Burris joins Peterson, Rick Ellithorpe and Dwayne Weyers, and brings his experiences in agriculture, “both in the farming side and in the warehouse side” Peterson said.
The entire sales crew is training for increased sales to Mexico as a result of recent moves by the Mexican government to open the country to U.S. potatoes. Based on logistics, Colorado could see substantial gains.
“The opening of Mexico has been a long-anticipated goal for Colorado,” Peterson said. “Aspen is happy to see it happen and is training all sales personnel to handle any Mexico loads that should come in.”
Improvements to the farming operation and warehouse are ongoing, and over the past two years, Aspen has advanced its traceability program, including the 2013 addition of trace-back info printed directly on Kwik Loks.
Peterson said recent upgrades to the facility include a new unloading system that accelerates the unloading process. “We are also adding additional tanks to help facilitate the packing of private label sizes,” she said.
