Houston-based Mountain King Potatoes is stepping up its packaging capacity of smaller-sized potatoes varieties in the face of strong demand.
A recently authorized fourth round of purchases for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program, consumer stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased demand for in-home cooking during the holidays are fueling potato demand, the company said in a news release.
A Colorado grower, packer and shipper of its small-sized Steakhouse Roasters, Baby Golds and Baby Reds, Mountain King has ramped up operations at its Alpine, Colo., packing facility dedicated exclusively to smaller-sized potatoes, according to the release.
Production lines at the plant have been configured for rapid-response packing, the release said, and outbound shipments are taking place daily, except Sunday, through the end of the year.
“Our Alpine packing facility gives us significantly greater capacity to fill orders of our smaller, pre-sized varieties in either bins or bales,” Andreas Trettin, marketing director at Mountain King, said in the release.
The company’s Alpine facility can ship out two loads per day, Trettin said in the release, and also can combine smaller potatoes on mixer loads from its other Colorado packing sheds. The company also offers a network of less than truckload options and forward distribution hubs for customers that cannot order full truckloads, according to the release.
