Plenty of high-quality red potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day
Plenty of high-quality red potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day
Ted Kreis, marketing director for the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association in Grand Forks, ND, said that his members are enjoying strong business this winter, and there will be plenty of high-quality Red River Valley red potatoes on the market for St. Patrick’s Day.
January 2013 was a statistical outlier because a high percentage of disappearance in the Red River Valley was the result of culling a storage crop that included many unsatisfactory potatoes. Discounting last year’s January, Kreis said the disappearance of the Red River Valley crop was the best for that month in five seasons.
In January 2014, the crop disappeared for the right reasons: Demand was good and the quality was high.
The price for red potatoes from the northern plains has been steady this season but had lately “inched up,” Kreis said. “Prices are just OK.
“What is good is that there is a lot more grade out of No. 1 potatoes this year,” he said. “We need to tell buyers that supplies are good from the Red River Valley and that we expect to ship later than last year. We will go well into May.”
Kreis, who is not of Irish descent, said he was surprised to learn when he took his post — a decade ago — that it is red potatoes that are associated with traditional St. Patrick’s recipes.
He said his shippers are planning many retail ad promotions with retailers as the calendar moves toward March 17.
The Northern Plains Potato Growers Association is conducting trade advertising to promote the red potatoes for those who are Irish — or are Irish for at least one day a year.
