Ralph Schwartz, Director of Category Management, Potandon Produce<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">We are harvesting currently in Bakersfield, California for our mini gourmet line. We have Red, Yellow, Klondike Rose, and Klondike Gold Dust. Also, we are currently harvesting in Queen Creek, Arizona and we just finished up our Florida harvest. Weather has been fantastic. Every growing area we are involved with is reporting fantastic growing conditions. We have some areas that are going to start ten days to two weeks early. Summertime is a great time for colored potatoes.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Tom Hughes, President, EarthFresh Foods<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Weather has been fairly cooperative. California weather has been decent. Arizona weather has been good so far. There seems to be an over supply situation on old stock and storage stock potatoes. I think its just a matter of prices being too high and its made a short crop into a long crop and so some are having a hard time moving their crop and they are dropping their prices to move it. Quality of the product has been excellent. The new crop quality out of California and Florida was good this Spring and storage crop has held up really well.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Lynn Wilcox, President, Wilcox Fresh<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Right now, the entire country has gotten off to an early planting start. Wisconsin was actually a full month early and Colorado and Idaho were two to three weeks early while Washington and Oregon were also early. The market is falling apart because the window for marketing the old crop has narrowed substantially because of the early start to the new crop creating sudden pressure on the old crop. There is still a very high quality old crop in storage and there are plenty of potatoes to promote with.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
