March 1 marked 20 years of business for Potandon LLC, one of the larger marketers of fresh potatoes and onions in North America. Today Potandon Produce is the sole provider of potato and onion products for Green Giant Fresh. It also grows products for "Klondike Brands," "Sunfresh," "Potandon Produce" and "The Valley" labels.

The company began in the early 1990s with just a few employees selling "Green Giant" brand potatoes out of a small sales office in Shelley, ID, which was then a part of the Pillsbury Co. In 1989, Grand Metropolitan acquired Pillsbury, and by 1994 changed the new business development strategy from building businesses to acquiring them.

Jeff Sholl, then vice president and general manger of the Green Giant Fresh division, negotiated a deal with Pillsbury for the rights to the brand for future development in the world of fresh produce. In January 1995, the Sholl Group was founded. By March 1 1995, Sholl, three of the original employees and six of the business's grower partners formed Potandon Produce LLC.

The newly formed company started operations in Idaho Falls, ID, with Mel Davenport, who headed up operations and grower relations, Kent Romrell (now retired) who headed up sales and business development, and Steve Ottum who managed the finances, accounting and marketing. The first task was naming the new venture.

Potandon, sometimes a tongue twister, clearly states exactly what the company is all about — POTatoes AND ONions — nothing more, nothing less.

“We built our company on some very relevant pillars,” Davenport said in a press release. “High-quality products, great service and innovation in the marketplace. We have a great grower group that helps us to grow in all aspects, and without their dedication, we would not be where we are today. The last 20 years have been exciting, and watching the growth and development of the company is thrilling.”

This commitment to innovation has resulted in some milestone events over the last 20 years. One notable highlight occurred in 2002, when Klondike Rose potatoes were introduced to the market. These unique potatoes were a game changer for Potandon. It was the first fresh potato variety in several decades to capture mainstream consumer attention. With several other new varieties already in development, the team at Potandon had the tools it needed to bring real and lasting change to the fresh potato industry while simultaneously growing the company.

In the period between 2002 and 2009, several other growers joined Potandon, each adding key supplies and valuable partnerships.

In order to continue to meet changing consumer needs through innovation, Potandon saw the need to manage its own seed development program. In 2009, Potandon entered into a joint venture to form Sunrain Varieties LLC. The team at Sunrain focuses on producing high-quality, disease-free potato seed for growers across the country.

With so much focus on the potato portion of the business, many people forget that Potandon is also a national onion supplier with 52 week sourcing. This segment of the business will be a big focus going into 2015 complete with a redesigned packaging look and a more focused approach to developing branded onion sales, especially in the Vidalia and Sweet onion segments.

Potandon has also been an industry leader in food safety, doing third-party audits and having an extensive quality-control team in place before it became an industry standard. “This area of the company is critical to preserving the brand consistency that our customers expect,” Ottum said in the release.

With shipping and packing locations in all major growing regions and a solid partnership with EarthFresh Farms in Toronto, Potandon is able to offer a diverse and high-quality category solution for customers in retail, foodservice and wholesale across the United States and Canada.

“We expect to add several new products in the next few years that will fundamentally change the market," Davenport said. "We see our next generation of potato items to be even healthier, have new and unique flavors and tastes, and bring about eating experiences that will excite and delight consumers long into the future.”

“While we celebrate the success and growth of Potandon over the past 20 years, we know we could not have gotten where we are today without our knowledgeable, hard-working and dedicated employees," Ottum said in the release. "I would like to sincerely recognize and say thank you to our outstanding team. We started this adventure with 12 people in 1995 and now have a family of 116. Our success is due to all those who built the company and continue to work hard every day to make it the success it has become. I’m excited for the future of Potandon over the next 20 years and beyond.”

“It is with enormous pride that today we celebrate 20 years of business and thank everyone who has been involved in helping Potandon become the business it is today," Sholl said in the release. "We look toward the coming years with excitement and determination to deliver on the promises on which the business was founded.”