Down in Louisiana chances are you can find a crawfish boil at every turn – but what will be different this year is what’s been added to a traditional boil: sweet potatoes. The state faced unfortunate crop loss last fall because of continuous rain. “It took a lot of the crop away,” said Matt Garber of Garber Farms. “For us we’ll be running out about the end of next month.” Sweet potatoes are supposed to be a year-round supply and their next harvest won’t happen until September.
Garber grows Beauregard, New Orleans and Murasaki varieties, though the purple-skinned Murasaki is still more of a specialty veg. “People are attracted to it if they like something different. It seems to have its niche – it can be moved almost everywhere in the US for consumption. No matter where you are you end up having a consumer even though you don’t think you do.”
Boil-in bag packaging
Garber's prices haven’t changed and he doesn’t plan on raising them, either. “It’s not the right thing to do. Maybe it would help me, but it won’t accomplish anything and I’d rather finish my customers off steady then to disrupt things,” said Garber. “It’s my job to have a year-round supply but I don’t. I knew that would be the case from the start but there’s no way to cover up the loss.” Garber's #1 mediums are selling for $20 FOB in 40lb. boxes. Garber Farms also carries 3lb. bags.
New for this year, Garber’s sweet potatoes are being added to the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission’s Sweeten the Pot promotion. “The sweet potato boils (with the crawfish) taste really good. Bags can be purchased at retail and Garber also offers the smaller size in bulk for wholesale. The bag is boil-ready, or it can be opened. Either way, the consumer can choose.
First year for boiling
"It’s exciting for the commodity to be featured in this arena. “It brings a new audience and the response has been very good.” Boiling is not a way many people have cooked sweet potatoes unless it was to mash them – it may seem sacrilege for some sweet potato fans, but Garber has had people tell him how good they taste boiled. “It’s amazing how many people say they like it better. The skin out of a boil is more edible. It’s interesting how something could evolve that’s bigger out of this, but we’ll see – we’re in year one.”
Just 10 days ago the company's new 1.5lb steamable pouch bags were launched, a trend that Garber knows is already widespread. “They’ve been very well-received received in just a short amount of time.”
For more information:
Matt Garber
Garber Farms
Tel: 337-824-6328