More organic sweet potatoes for 2017 in the US

As it finished shipping its 2016 sweet potato crop last week, supplies for 2017 of the root vegetable may exceed last year’s levels.

“We’ve now started shipping 2017 and the crop looks excellent,” says Tami Long of Nashville, NC-based Nash Produce. “We had a great summer weather-wise. So we’re forecasting at least the same production as 2016 if not more. If the weather holds, it will be more.”

More also includes a significant boost in organics plantings for the 2017 year—Nash increased its organic crop by 25 per cent over last year. “Consumers are just demanding more organics,” says Long. “Also millennials are looking for healthy food and trending towards organics.”

Rebranding ahead
With a potential increased crop, Long—who recently came to the produce industry after a long career in magazine publishing--is looking to capitalize on that with a change in look for Nash. “We’re rebranding the entire company,” she says. “We need a fresher look with more dynamic colours and a change in packaging as well.”

She also adds that Nash’s signature character, Mr. Yam, will also get a facelift to further solidify his place on store shelves. “I’m hoping to target kids with him and make him more user-friendly,” Long says. “Also the name Mr. Yam is confusing because people always think they’ve eaten yams when they’re really sweet potatoes. It’s too confusing for consumers. But we’re working on the logo first and then we’ll move onto him.”

Diversifying potatoes

Along with the rebranding, Long is looking into other ways of using sweet potatoes. “Most people think of sweet potatoes this time of the year whereas we ship 365 days of the year,” she says. “So we’re doing things like talking to a company about doing sweet potato juices and looking at other ways we can get sweet potatoes to consumers. If we give consumers more options, we’ll see a bigger spike in demand. The future dictates that we need to diversify products that include sweet potatoes.”

For more information:
Tami Long
Nash Produce
Tel: +1-252-0443-6011 x231
tamilong@nashproduce.com
www.nashproduce.com