“Our market is hot right now. It’s all over the board because we don’t have much supply of sweet potatoes, but the demand is still high,” said an industry source. “The demand has been consistent, even though we have little to no supply.” “Right now, we’re working with the old crop, which was planted in 2015. We’re harvesting those sweet potatoes now and coming to the end of that crop.”
The company that was interviewed has not been affected by the flooding that took place in parts of Louisiana during the week of Aug. 15. “We are northeast of that area, quite a distance away, actually,” pointed out the spokesperson.
"We have been able to maintain our customer base, even though the flooding had such a big impact on some areas in Louisiana. We have our own customers who we’ve developed a rapport with. Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll keep these customers and maybe get a few new ones.”
“It’s possible that the sweet potato farms in Louisiana will be affected by the flooding, especially if they are working with new-crop plants. Those were planted in 2016, so all that water could have an effect on them. Until the water level goes down, they just won’t know what they’re going to be facing,” the spokesperson pointed out.