The sweet potato harvest in North Carolina already had its yields lowered due to a dry period this season, and hurricane Florence subsequently also caused considerable damage. “The actual harvest figures haven’t become public yet, but at least about 30 per cent of the fields is expected to have been lost in North Carolina,” says Nick Bakelaar of Spot. “The harvest itself will also be challenging, because sizes are smaller than in previous years. However, a lot of potatoes haven’t been harvested yet.”
“The storm affected the harvest. The entire season had already been delayed, and because of the hurricane, it will only take longer; a lot of fields were flooded and growers had to wait before they could harvest. Some of them will export their product, but a lot of growers will first want to provide the local market in the US with sweet potatoes. There’s a lot of demand here because of Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Nick says.
“It’s expected more will be exported to Europe after this period,” Nick continues. “We take care of the sales on the European market, for instance, Germany, Scandinavia, France and Spain. But we’re also looking towards the east more and more. Last week, we received the first new harvest from the US. This will gradually increase in availability every week. We also supply Spanish and Egyptian sweet potatoes until the end of December.”
Nick has noticed a larger supply of sweet potatoes from other production countries. “In the past, it was countries like Egypt, Spain and Israel, but countries such as Morocco, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands can now also be seen. However, for most of these countries its’ quite a search to find the right variety, and it’s all still very much in the starting stage.”
Spot also grows organic sweet potatoes. “Demand for organic is interesting and increasing, because more and more consumers are becoming aware of what they’re eating,” Nick concludes.
For more information:
Nick Bakelaar
Spot
ABC Westland 128
2685 DB Poeldijk, the Netherlands
Tel: +31 174 47 01 05
nick@spot.farm
www.spot.farm