Australian sweet potato growers say they expect demand to increase as the temperatures get cooler in coming months.
Jane and Matthew Pritchard, from Cudgen in New South Wales say volumes have been have been up on recent seasons, which is actually having a slight impact on growers in terms of price.
"Volumes will be higher than last year through the next few months if there is no serious weather event," Mr Pritchard said. "This higher production is leading to reduced grower returns. Cooler months mean higher demand for sweet potatoes so growers try to match this demand. Growing conditions have been good over the planting season this year. Most growers have been in front of their planting schedule."
He adds that production has been good, not just in volume but also good quality. Sweet potatoes do not have a peak season, however many growers have a summer crop and a winter crop to keep supply going all year round.
The longer a sweet potato stays growing underground, the sweeter its flavour will be. So sweet taters that hibernate under the soil in winter turn out sweeter than those that grow rapidly in the heat of summer. Sweet potatoes planted in summer are only in the ground for 5 months, while crops planted in spring or autumn can take up to 10 months until they are harvested.
However, an increase in production across Australia is something that has created a short-term decrease in the market in terms of prices.
"Growth in production in recent times is impacting on grower returns," he said. "This will cause a production correction in time which will in turn lead to more sustainable prices and returns for growers. Marketing and promotional activities will help to achieve this also for the growers."
Almost all of Australia’s sweet potatoes are grown in Queensland, with Bundaberg being the dominant region. There are four varieties based on colour; Gold, Red, Purple and White, with 90 per cent of Australian grown sweet potatoes being gold. The colour of sweet potato skin changes based on the season it is picked. Sweet potatoes harvested in the summer are pinker while the winter crop appears paler.
Sweet potato has competition with other vegetable lines, particularly potato and pumpkin, but demand continues to increase each year.
"Sweet potato demand is still naturally increasing each year," Mr Pritchard said. "Recent increases in demand have been assisted by marketing and promotional activities funded by sweet potato growers. The marketing and PR focus has been on families, with particular emphasis on parents with 0-5 year olds. Current demand for sweet potatoes is not however keeping pace with supply, reducing grower returns in some cases to below costs of production."
Last year, fast food chain KFC, introduced a sweet potato and gravy as a temporary menu item. Mr Pritchard welcomes the chance to get the produce category more attention, in the hopes that it can increase consumption.
"Any time a popular brand used sweet potato in their promotional menus is a positive for the industry," he said. "This helps to build sweet potato awareness through the community. This helps create demand for fresh market sweet potato. One point to note is that many of the popular brands of processed sweet potato product is imported.
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