“Overall, not just here at Nash Produce but across the industry, we are down about 30-40 percent due to the weather last summer,” said David Bradley, operations/business development for the Nashville, NC-based company. “We had drought for about 40-45 days followed by two hurricanes and a tropical storm, which ultimately impacted both the size and yield of the crop.”
When a shortage like this comes about, Nash Produce is well prepared to deal with any challenges that may come about and are being upfront with their customers about what’s happening.
“We are always transparent with our customers,” Bradley said. “Now the biggest thing is working with our customers to keep them updated on where we’re at and keep them informed on current inventory levels and price.”
The shortage is true for conventional, organic and Murasaki purple-skinned sweet potatoes.
“We want our customers to know that we value their long-term relationships that we have cultured over the years,” Bradley said. “Ensuring supply to our customers is our main priority and we want them to know that we are going to work with them.”
One of the things Nash Produce is seeing right now in the industry is growers who are sitting on their own inventory, holding out waiting for better pricing.
“Growers in the industry realize there is a bit of a shortage so they are holding out and we are communicating that with our customers to help get price up a little but also ensure we can consistently provide them with quality sweet potatoes until we transition to the 2025 crop, which should be in the beginning of October. We want to work with our growers to make sure they can make enough money to plant again next year and make sure all parties in the supply chain are profitable.”
The company recently returned from the SEPC show and saw a lot of current customers and met some potential new customers and had a great experience at the event.
“It’s always good to see your customer base,” Bradley said. “The main thing we highlighted to our customers was the current situation of our inventory levels. There might be some implications when it comes to pricing, but we want our retailers to know that we value them and will work to keep our supply to them consistent until we transition into the 2025 crop.”
Strong relationships have always been a cornerstone of Nash Produce’s success, and that all comes back to communication and transparency.
“That’s the biggest factor in keeping the relationship going and we continue to update them,” Bradley said. “We want to make this situation seamless for everyone involved. We want everyone to feel comfortable and that we are servicing them at a level that consistently creates value.”
