North Carolina’s sweet potato crop is well underway with good volume. “Supplies, quality and sizing are good. This year, we didn’t have a major weather event like we’ve had in the past several years so the crop sized up well,” says Jeff Thomas with Scott Farms.
While Scott Farms’ acreage hasn’t changed, it is rumored that generally, acreage is down in North Carolina. The season also got a slightly later start this year by about a week and a half--harvest began in the beginning of September.
Meanwhile, demand is good for sweet potatoes. “The movement through Thanksgiving has been good. We were really pleased with how everything went and look forward to continuing to grow. We’re gearing up for Christmas which should start hitting the latter part of this week and then next week,” Thomas says, noting he anticipates movement to increase looking ahead.
Processing opportunities
At the same time, opportunities continue to emerge in sweet potato processing. “Processing follows along with the mindset of it follows how people are choosing to incorporate sweet potatoes into their diet. There are chips and fries but fresh-cut sweet potatoes are also being incorporated more and more on grocery store shelves because people are choosing the convenience factor that comes with that. That will only continue to grow,” says Thomas.
As for pricing, the challenge is around increased costs that growers and shippers are incurring--unlike other goods and services, which have seen price increases to match those higher costs, the same isn't being seen in the sweet potato industry.
For more information:
Jeff Thomas
Scott Farms
Tel: +1 (919) 284-4030
[email protected]
https://scottfarms.com/