New shed going up at Monte Vista Potato Growers
New shed going up at Monte Vista Potato Growers
Responding to increasing demand for specialty packs, Monte Vista Potato Growers has given the green light to construction of a new shed, which General Manager Jason Tillman hopes to have operational by the start of the 2016 shipping season.
In the meantime, the San Luis Valley, CO, operation continues to ship 2015 spuds, and Tillman said he expects to wrap up in early to mid-July.
Monte Vista Potato Growers General Manager Jason Tillman looks forward to the 2016 season and a new warehouse.
Earlier this year Tillman told The Produce News that the cooperative was looking at additional warehouse space, noting, “We need to do more specialty packs.” In early April he followed up by announcing construction on the new shed will start this summer.
The combined space of the older facility and the new shed will be 30,000 square feet, he said.
“We’ll have an electric sizer/sorter and more sizes available,” he said. MVPG will offer three-, five- and 10-pound poly bags, and Tillman said, “The biggest thing will be our five to nine business.”
In addition to the poly bag business, MVPG continues to offer cartons, he said.
Much of the company’s volume goes to the Southeast, and Tillman said “a little more went into Texas” during the 2015-16 season. Mexico remains a major receiver, with 20-25 percent of MVPG’s business done in the 26-kilometer buffer zone.
As the physical footprint of the facility expands, so does its potato manifest, with the addition of organics this season. Most of MVPG’s volume is in conventional russets, and another 25 percent is in conventional yellows, but organics are finding a foothold among the co-op’s growers.
“Some of our growers will have organics, and this year they’ll be run through the White Rock Specialties shed in Mosca,” Tillman said. The organic shed is managed by San Luis Valley producers Sheldon Rockey and Paul New.
MVPG is looking toward a traditional harvest start in early September, with initial shipments commencing in early October.
