US demand grows strongly for organic sweet potatoes

Organic sweet potatoes in the United States are in good supply. After a solid but short growing season in the late summer in California, growers continue to ship them out of storage for the majority of the year. The favorable conditions have ensured good supply and quality to meet the growing demand.

"The harvest occurred in late August and into September, with supply coming out of storage for the remainder of the year," said Mike Duarte of Atwater Packing in California. "The main growing area in California is in Livingstone, with some grown in Bakersfield as well. There are no supply issues and the excellent growing season resulted in good sizing and quality."

"Organic sweet potatoes are doing very well," Duarte added. "The market is close to what it was at this time last year, but demand is excellent. We currently sell in 5 states in the West - California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona."

Aside from fresh sales, organic sweet potatoes are also seeing excellent growth in the value added sector. Suppliers are observing that this sector is seeing tremendous sales growth. "Most of our organic sweet potatoes are designated to our value added items," said Gina Pettit of Country Sweet Produce. "The organic market is strong and continues to grow. Consumer demand for value added organics is experiencing exponential growth – outpacing regular potato sales."

The company's organic sweet potatoes are available year-round and the focus now is managing supply to meet the high demand. "Our organic Sweet Potatoes are available from Bakersfield, CA year round," Pettit explained. "The varieties we offer include Covington, Bellevue, O’Henry, also called Bonita, the Diane or Garnet, and Murasaki which is the Japanese variety. Supply is steady this time of year. With the high demand for organics, the focus shifts to strategically managing inventory to supply customer needs."

For more information:

Mike Duarte

Tel: +1 (209) 358-3024

Gina Pettit

Tel: +1 (661) 858-1075