The domestic sweet potato market is likely facing a supply shortage in the coming months.
“The industry as a whole is expecting a shortage in the sweet potato crop that’s in storage due to the hurricane this past season in North Carolina,” says Charlotte Vick of Wilson, NC-based Vick Family Farms. “Our farm’s inventory is very good at the moment and we hope to be able to cover our current customers through to the new crop.”
This is a marked difference from last season when the industry had an abundance in storage. “However, quality did not hold very well during the summer months so the crop was gone quickly. We were a couple months short last season on our farm,” says Vick. She notes that this year’s quality has been excellent and yielding much better pack outs.
Good demand
At the same time, demand has been high for sweet potatoes. “We’ve been very busy packing the last few weeks. January and February are always good export months for us. We expect that to continue at least through to Easter when we typically slow down,” says Vick.
She notes that on exports, Vick has had an increase in calls from buyers around the world for product. “We’re exporting more specialty varieties now and the interest for organic potatoes in the Netherlands and Germany seems to be increasing as well,” she adds.
And overall, sweet potatoes do seem to be continuing to grow in popularity. “There are still regions where the markets are just beginning to grow. We expect that to continue,” she says. “People are more health conscious and using sweet potatoes in more dishes rather than just baking them. That has helped the industry to continue growth.”
Industry changes
And changes are pushing the industry to adapt to new conditions. “It’s a continuing learning experience,” says Vick. “Varieties, weather, markets, consumer demands all change and we just have to continue to learn, grow, and adapt to changes in the industry over time.”
Part of the change is dealing with continuing challenges over labor. “It’s a huge challenge for us both in the fields and the packing facility. It is very difficult to keep good labor on the farm,” she says, noting the industry now has to pay higher wages and is still experiencing shortages in labor. “It’s a major challenge that has escalated rapidly the last couple years. Yes, prices for sweet potatoes have climbed the last couple of months and as grower/packer/shippers we need to keep those prices at these levels or higher to be able to remain profitable.”
She adds that the prices the industry was selling its crop for last season were unprofitable, especially with costs such as labor continuing to rise. “We all must be conscious of this in the months ahead. Farmers are extremely challenged by commodity rates being so low and that can’t continue,” says Vick.
For now though, prices are stronger than last year’s she notes. “We hope this trend will continue through the rest of the crop since there is expected to be a shortage,” she says.
For more information:
Charlotte Vick
Vick Family Farms
Tel: +1 252-885-0051
charlotte@vickfamilyfarms.com
http://vickfamilyfarms.com