Imported Mexican shipments are expected to remain steady with good volume for the next six weeks. Meanwhile, here’s a break down of U.S. potato shipments when comparing russets and other varieties.
Mexican produce shipments from bumper spring crops are now occurring Mexico with items such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, bell peppers, watermelon and mangoes. Table grapes, among others, will begin in a few weeks.
March and April are often seen as a secondary shipping peak for northern-grown Mexican products as demand typically increases with improving spring weather in U.S. markets. Imported Mexican produce shipments are expected to remain very steady through April.
Russet Potatoes
Russet potato shipments have been giving away, at least to a certain degree, to other varieties of spuds, although russets easily remain the category. At least this is the case from a study of potato movement from July through December. It has been a long time since russet shipments have seen an increase compared to other potato varieties.
In data collected by Nielsen, fresh russet volume was up 0.43 percent for the six-month period. Russet potatoes accounted for 66.08 percent of potato category sales, up from 65.46 percent a year ago.
Red potato shipments ranked second behind russets for the July through December period, accounting for 16.03 percent, down from 17.03 percent in the same period a year ago. Red potato sales for the six-month period were off 1.48 percent compared with year-ago numbers, and red potato volume was down 6.78 percent compared with a year ago.
The third-ranked potato category in July through December last year was yellow potatoes, accounting for 10.75 percent of total fresh potato sales compared with 9.85 percent last year. White potatoes, the fourth-ranked fresh potato category, suffered declines in volume and sales compared with a year ago.
White potato sales were off 6.20 percent compared with a year ago, while volume of white potatoes sold at retail from July through December was off 12.21 percent compared with the same period a year ago. White potato sales accounted for 5.55 percent of potato category sales, down from 6.19 percent the same period a year ago.
Fingerling potato sales account for just 0.23 percent of total potato category sales from July through December, up just slightly from 0.22 percent the same period a year ago.
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Grand Forks, ND red potatoes – grossing about $4600 to New York City; $2000 to Chicago; $2800 to Dallas.
Idaho russets – grossing about $5100 to New York City.
San Luis Valley, Colorado russets – grossing about $2200 to Chicago $4000 to New York City.