With dramatic names like Vivaldi and Orchestra, potato lovers have a greater choice of spuds than ever before.
Modern potatoes come in more colours than a rainbow with red, white, yellow, blue and pink varieties and an assortment of shapes and sizes.
Alberta grows 35 to 40 mainstay varieties, but plant breeders are continually coming out with new ones to entice consumers to eat more.
“They are looking for a new red or yellow so new varieties are coming on line all the time,” said Terence Hochstein, executive director of Potato Growers of Alberta.
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Production varies from year to year depending on the growing season and markets.
This year, the Alberta fresh market potato acreage grew by 10 percent to 2,600 acres, but the processing sector required less than normal at 3,500 acres.
“Our production processing industry is completely in correlation to the demand of the North American market,” he said after the potato growers annual meeting in Calgary Nov. 21.
Seed potatoes are another large part of the business with 9,700 acres planted, a 200 acre increase from last year.
Most of these are grown in the northern half of the province.
Alberta is Canada’s third largest potato producing province next to Prince Edward Island and Manitoba.
Last year, it reported $160 to $170 million in farmgate sales, but the economic spinoffs are more than $1 billion.
However, the province is not self-sufficient in potatoes and has to import mostly from Manitoba and British Columbia.
“The Albertans consume the equivalent of 6,500 acres per year and we produce 2,600. We definitely could produce more,” he said.
Growing fresh and processing potatoes involve different procedures and economic risks. Processors offer contracts and set prices to give producers more security rather than depending on the vagaries of the fresh market.
Alberta processors include Frito-Lay, owned by Pepsi Co., Old Dutch, McCains, Lamb Weston and Cavendish, which took over a Maple Leaf plant in Lethbridge to make fries. There are also half a dozen fresh packers.
Encouraging consumers to eat more potatoes is a big challenge for the industry.
“There is that perception out there that a potato is bad for you, and it is one of the healthiest vegetables there is. It is high in potassium and a good source of fibre,” he said.
Growers are considering a national marketing and promotion agency to promote potatoes and their health benefits.
