Ron Budd: Jersey potato season ‘going very well’
- by Gordon M. Hochberg | August 28, 2020
David Budd, Bob Budd, Ron Budd and Dave Budd of Gloucester County Packing Corp.There has been good quality and good pricing for New Jersey potatoes in 2020, according to Ron Budd, vice president of Gloucester County Packing Corp., located in Woodbury, NJ. The company packs, distributes and handles both potatoes and onions.
The Jersey potato season “is going very well,” Budd said Monday, Aug. 11. “We have all varieties available right now, with red, white, yellow and russet. And a large portion of them we’re packing in the ‘Jersey Fresh’ branded bag. The growers are experiencing average yields but above-average pricing.”
Asked how the quality of the potatoes was this season, Budd replied, “Quality’s been very good this year,” but added, “I’m a little concerned with the heat that we’ve had, and we’ve had some rain within the last week. We didn’t get as much rain as some other areas, but the hurricane last Tuesday — we got between two and three inches of rain off of that. You go a little further west, it was two-and-half times that. That’s not what you want to see in the middle of your harvest.”
Commenting further about the Jersey potato season, the company executive said, “Yield is just average, but the quality and pricing have been above average. Fortunately for Gloucester County Packing with the large exposure to the retail sector, we landed on the right side of the fence.”
Looking ahead, Budd stated, “Typically we’ll go to the second week of November.” But this year potatoes could finish a little early.
“A lot of that has to do with demand. Based on the way demand has gone so far, we should finish up at the end of October,” he stated.
“We’ll continue to have a good mix of all varieties. Red varieties usually finish up by the first of September, but the other three varieties will continue through October.”
Demand has been good all season, he noted. “And part of the reason it’s been good is this USDA Farm to Families Program,” which during the COVID-19 pandemic has provided free boxes of food to those in need.
“We have our regular business,” he said. “We also have been participating indirectly with supplying the people who are assembling these boxes with both potatoes and onions. And we’ve seen a tremendous increase in demand for that. And that’s part of the reason for the higher-than-average pricing.”
Budd noted that “90 percent of our business is in the retail sector, and that’s seeing an increase in business.”
Gloucester County Packing also has been handling onions from Peru for about 15 years.
“We did start the Peruvian onions two weeks ago,” said Budd. “That seems to be going very well. It’s actually about two weeks earlier than normal. We’ve never started this early with Peruvian onions. It’s always been in August sometime.”
Asked how important the Peruvian onion deal is to Gloucester County Packing, Budd replied, “It complements what we’re doing nicely. Potatoes and onions are the only two commodities that we handle.” The Peruvian onion deal “allows us to basically max out production.” That deal will run to February, he noted.
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