Exploring fresh, not fried (yet) potatoes for foodservice
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — For many of the foodservice buyers on a recent harvest tour hosted by the Idaho Potato Commission, there was one aspect of Idaho russet potatoes that they kept returning to as they explored the dusty fields of potatoes and gazed at John Deere tractors and harvesters under the great blue open skies.
It was all about the emergence of the norkotah variety of russet, when for decades the favorite has always been burbank russets.
“I’m taking away how we can use norkotah now and don’t have to wait for the burbank variety,” said Eric Meisel, produce culinary specialist for the greater Ohio region for Gordon Food Service.
“I’m learning that my traditional customers used to using burbank can have that option,” he added.
He was happy to see specifically how the potato goes from field to storage or customer.
These produce buyers ducked around hand trucks in the warehouses where potatoes rolled by on conveyor belts, being washed, graded, sorted and packed.
Growers indicated that volume of the potato crop was up this year, and they’re holding out hope that prices don’t drop too much. They’re adjusting their mix based on what customers want, what tastes the best and has the best texture and what is easier to grow and ship.
“Right now, we’re doing norkotahs. We’re moving toward more of those like other growers,” said Sven Sutton who, with his father, Kent Sutton, helps run Rexburg-based Bench Mark Potato, a cooperative of five potato growers. “Norkotahs are less stress on growers; we can get them in soon after the last snow; they mature a little faster.”
About 85% of Bench Mark’s customers are foodservice and 15% are retail. They harvest about 4 million pounds of potatoes a day, a harvest expected to end by mid-October.
Kent Sutton said they’re one of the smaller operations.
At Rigby Produce in Rigby, about 80% of the russet crop is norkotah, said Bryan Mickelsen, whose father started the company with his brother in the mid-1970s.
“We’ve drifted toward norkotahs over the years,” Mickelsen said. “It really is performing the same or better than burbanks.”
For foodservice, the growers go for size. The smaller potatoes are for retail, he said. They’re trying out some new traceability coding lately called RFID on all the trucks.
Of the 40% of Idaho potatoes that go to the fresh market, about half of that goes to foodservice, according to the Idaho Potato Commission. That includes schools, hospitals, military and correctional facilities.
“We mainly run norkotahs until May 1, as they don’t store as long, and then burbanks. We’ve always run more norkotahs than burbank,” said Eric Wahlen, who handles operations for Pleasant Valley Potato in Aberdeen, Idaho. “Our focus in this shed is foodservice.”
Kevin Naze, who is in charge of sourcing produce for Chef’s Warehouse, also enjoyed seeing the process of potato harvesting and sorting.
“I’ve been in produce 30 years, and until now, I always thought potatoes came from a box,” he joked.
In all seriousness, Naze, as well as the others, explored the storage sheds, fields and warehouses, asking questions, taking notes and absorbing the information. They said they will use it to better serve their foodservice customers.
