Earlier this year, Strohauer Farms, based in LaSalle, CO, launched a potato program in northeastern New Mexico. Harry Strohauer, owner/grower, said the move was brought about by water shortages in Colorado, and a portion of his conventional bulk potatoes were grown in the neighboring state, then brought to Colorado for packing and shipping.

Conventional Yukons from New Mexico started in late July, followed by russets in early August.

While noting his company is on track to provide its customers with spuds throughout the 2013-14 shipping season, John McCormick, principal in McCormick & Milne in Monte Vista, CO, said changes in the industry are taking their toll in the region.

The longtime broker-shipper-distributor said in late August that the quality of San Luis Valley potatoes was looking good, with size and yields down from 2012. He expected the company’s shipping volume to hit mid-December, and he said M&M’s sales remain primarily to retail and foodservice/process.

This past June, MountainKing Potatoes, headquartered in Houston, TX, acquired Canon Potato, located in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. John Pope, vice president of sales & marketing, said the decision facilitates continued growth and improved supply and service levels to MountainKing’s existing customer base.

“[The acquisition] improves our company’s ability to grow and expand our baseline core business while penetrating profitable business within the Intermountain regional markets such as Denver, Salt Lake and Phoenix,” he told The Produce News.

Farm Fresh Direct, an alliance of potato growers based in the San Luis Valley of Colorado and with farming partners in Kansas, Nebraska and Nevada, is reporting good quality with smaller sizing coming from its Colorado farms this season.

Operations Manager Lee Jackson said in late August that quality this season is better than with 2012’s crop, and the smaller sizing means less misshaping as well.

New equipment at two of its three sheds and additional storage keeps Skyline Potato Co. of Center, CO, in growth mode, and Chief Operations Officer Randy Bache said the focus will remain on the company’s multiple russet varieties and organic reds.

Bache said in late August that new-crop spuds from northern Colorado and Nebraska were shipping from the Center facility, and harvest on the 2013 San Luis Valley crop would begin soon. Bache, who also oversees operations at Skyview Cooling in Yuma, AZ, will remain at the Colorado operation through harvest, he said.

Bill Litvin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Giorgio Fresh Co. in Temple, PA, said that with consumers doing their research prior to purchasing products at the grocery store today, the current industry trends have produced a positive effect on the specialty produce category.

“We have seen continued sales growth thanks in part to the trends that are consumer driven, such as organics and locally grown,” said Litvin. And that interest extends strongly to more unusual produce like exotic and wild mushrooms.”