Washington Potato Surplus Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. With much of the food service industry, including restaurants and schools, shut down during this coronavirus, Washington potato growers are finding themselves in a terrible situation with a billion pounds of potatoes in storage that have no place to go.
Washington Potato Commission president Chris Voigt says the potato pipeline is experiencing a terrible backup …
VOIGT … “If you look at the Washington potato industry or communities, we’re kind of unique. We have a very high concentration of potato processors, most of them being like frozen French fry type processors. They being here in Washington because we’ve got high yields and consistent quality. So, 90% of what we grow is processed. Well, guess what, 95% of what they sell happens in food service locations, so restaurants, fast food establishments, school feeding programs, that type of thing.”
And, Voigt says when all of that shuts down, the ramifications for all processors and growers are huge …
VOIGT … “All of the sudden, I think that the processors sales were just tanking with all of the stay-at-home isolations and restrictions in place and restaurants being shut down. And so they immediately called growers, and this is for the next crop, you know, the crop that we would harvest in the fall, and they said ‘just park your planters, don’t plant any more because we’re not sure if we’re going to be able to honor our commitments to you.’”
Listen tomorrow when Voigt talks about the insurmountable financial hole growers are finding themselves in before potato season even begins.
