Heavy rains had an affect on the acreage for sweet potatoes in North Carolina. “Pack outs have not been as good this year so inventory is disappearing fast,” said Kelley Precythe of Southern Produce Distributors. Planting is finishing up for next season and is on track. Precythe said that as far as crops left in inventory, he expects the market to increase. “I have plenty of supplies for my customers so I won’t run out but it won’t be long and you’ll start seeing inventories disappearing fast,” he said. “We expect the market to rise, because we all need it to.”
About 75 percent of Precythe's business is domestic retail with the remaining 25 percent in export. “We do about 13,000 acres of sweet potatoes, so 25 percent of that is a lot – a couple thousand containers a year,” he said. “Right now the export market is not so good. There’s a lot of competition, but I expect it to increase soon.”
Overseas markets are beginning to realize the benefits of sweet potatoes but still need education on how to cook with them. Countries like Scandinavia, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Ireland are requesting imports of sweet potatoes.
“The growth over there is phenomenal, but there’s still a lot of work to do on educating them on the health; it’s a superfood, and people need to know all the different ways to prepare them,” Precythe noted. “I’m passionate about what I do and I love seeing the pleasure of growing something and seeing it grow overseas; it is a really good feeling.”
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Kelley Precythe
Southern Produce Distributors, Inc.