Low-carb, High Hopes
Co-op’s slimmed-down, SunLite tubers
may beef-up Florida’s potato industry
By Ellen Boukari
USDA Rural Development/ Florida
Public Affairs Office
ursting with calcium,
niacin, iron and
Vitamin C, potatoes
are one of the world’s
great foods. Even potato
skins are a good source of fiber.
And they can be served in a seemingly
inifinite number of ways. It’s not
surprising, then, that potatoes have
long been America’s most popular
vegetable, according to USDA’s
Economic Research Service, which
reports that the typical American
consumes more than 140 pounds
of spuds each year.
But for weight-conscious consumers,
there is trouble lurking
beneath the skin: carbohydrates, and
plenty of them. If you subscribe to the
notion that fat is the dieter’s friend,
carbohydrates — as are found in bread
and potatoes — are viewed as dietary
offenders. As the low-carb diet trend
has taken root, millions of Americans
have adopted a low-carbohydrate regimen.
That’s resulted in the sale of a lot
of meat, but fewer potatoes.
Potato sales have been declining
precipitously in the Tri-County agricultural
area (St. Johns, Putnam and
Flagler counties) of northeast Florida,
once known as the Potato Capital of
Florida. The number of potato growers
here has dwindled from nearly 400
farmers in the early 1970s to fewer
than 40 today.
Fighting to regain crown
Five Florida potato growers are
seeking to regain lost market share by
forming SunFresh of Florida Marketing
Cooperative Inc. The members, all
sixth-generation Florida potato growers,
think that a new variety of lowcarb
potatoes they are growing can
even help the Tri-County area regain
its potato crown. The co-op has been
bolstered by technical assistance and a
$95,000 Rural Business Enterprise
Grant (RBEG) from USDA Rural
Development. Also playing a vital role
is Chad Hutchinson, an assistant professor
of horticulture at the University
of Florida’s (UF) Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences.
Hutchinson has been growing and
testing the new potato variety for five
years at UF’s Plant Science Research
Unit in Hastings, Fla. In 2000, potato
farmers and UF scientists began working
with Dutch seed company HZPC
to develop a better potato — better
tasting, better looking and with an
increased shelf life. It has 30 percent
fewer carbs and higher protein than
russet potatoes (the biggest selling variety
in the United States). This tuber
innovation is already impressing healthconscious
consumers and is bringing
the potato back to the dinner tables of
more people on low-carb diets.
“Growers love this potato,” says
Hutchinson. “It is disease resistant, has
a shorter growing cycle and is better
able to deal with Florida’s extreme
weather.”
Co-op growers are hopeful that the
new SunLite potato will revive the
potato market and turn a profit for
them. Joe Mueller, business and cooperative
programs director for USDA
Rural Development in Florida, provided
the co-op with critical help in
developing their marketing organization.
The RBEG funds from USDA
assisted with the initial marketing rollout
for the new potato.
The SunFresh co-op has exclusive
rights to the potato. As an added benefit,
SunLite low-carb potatoes are
grown in compliance with a pilot
USDA program that provides identity
preservation of the crop from the farm
to the consumer. Shoppers are thus
assured they are getting authentic
SunLite™ low-carb potatoes.
Trouble in potato country
While growers are optimistic about
the new potato, they also are aware
that competition from northern growers
will remain tough. The Tri-County
potato-growing region consists of
about 21,000 acres of unique farmland.
The moderate climate allows growers
to harvest potatoes early in the year,
usually in March and April, sometimes
even earlier. Over the years, Mother
Nature’s benevolence was a boon to
Florida growers, giving them the competitive
advantage over cold-weather
spud growers.
However, due to new potato storage
technology and excess potato production
in northern states, growers here
can no longer compete by relying solely
on the early-to-market growing
cycle and the freshness of their product.
The number of buyers has dwindled,
also contributing to the decline
of the Florida potato industry. With
little member commitment, another
local co-op was not having much luck
increasing prices or finding new markets
for its members, Mueller notes.
By 2003, Florida’s potato industry
was ripe for a positive change. The
ground-breaking, low-carb potato was
the impetus needed to rally the farmers
into a unified group seeking a bigger
market presence.
Prior to the formation of SunFresh,
there has been little crop differentiation
in Florida potatoes had none had
a brand identity. Potato marketing has
historically been focused on bulk production,
with most sales made to manufacturers
of the potato chips or
French fries. Farmers knew that in
order for the low-carb potato to be a
success, they would need more than a
better potato.
The task was formidable.
Instead of focusing solely on growing
and harvesting potatoes, the farmers
now were tasked with product management,
from planting to harvesting, packing,
shipping and marketing on a
national scale. Seeking advice about how
best to bring to fruition the many pieces
of the challenging puzzle, farmers and
scientists consulted with local agriculture
extension agent Edsel Reddon, who
in turn called on Mueller at USDA
Rural Development for advice.
Co-op: perfect marketing vechicle
While Florida’s potatoes represent
only 5 percent of the nation’s crop,
they are important to the state, generating
more than $120 million in sales
annually.
Mueller was convinced that if farmers
worked together and had a strategic
plan for the future, they could capture
more profits with the low-carb
potato. The co-op seemed to be the
perfect vehicle to take this new potato
to the market place.
But given the lackluster performance
history of some other cooperatives
in the area, it was no easy task to
convince growers that a new co-op
was the best bet toward making the
low-carb potato profitable. Organizing
and operating a new co-op would be
the true test of commitment and dedication.
Less than 12 months after it was
launched, Mueller says SunFresh of
Florida Marketing Cooperative “has
demonstrated a winning combination
of know-how, determination and management
skills to handle the myriad of
details required, both internally as well
as externally.
Marketing campaign
The cooperative is pushing fullsteam
ahead with marketing strategies
that emphasize the potato’s health benefits.
Sunfresh is promoting the SunLite
brand as a unique, gourmet potato sure
to please the palate and the waistline.
The growers also want to market the
potato as a fresh vegetable with a brand
name and logo, so that shoppers will ask
for it in their grocery store.
Given that the potato is smooth
skinned, has small eyes and slightly
yellow flesh, it offers eye appeal and
tempts the tastebuds with its fresh
creamy texture. And butter and sour
cream are optional, due in part to the
potato’s high-moisture content, says
Hutchinson.
USDA Rural Development’s RBEG
funding was provided to the Floridan
Resource Conservation and Development
Council, which in turn used the
funds to assist the co-op in marshalling
marketing activities for the potato. A
marketing campaign targeting wholealers,
retailers, the food service trade and
consumers is in full swing to market
SunLite as a premium table potato.
The potatoes hit supermarket
shelves in February 2005 as “SunLite
All Natural-Low Carb Potatoes.”
Sunfresh began its marketing campaign
by targeting grocery stores in
the southeast, including regional and
national chains. With marketing assistance
from the Florida Depart-ment of
Agriculture and Consumer Services
(FDACS), each bag of SunLite lowcarb
potatoes brandishes appealing
labeling and an eye-catching logo. The
marketing strategy is “to sell the sizzle
and not the steak,” says Sunfresh
Cooperative president and “SunLite”
potato farmer Wayne Smith.
Over the past eight months, the
low-carb potato has been featured in
numerous publications, including coverage
on major newswires and network
television. Smith said that spending
time with reporters and photographers
has become somewhat commonplace
for him.
Looking ahead
Currently, all grading, packing and
shipping is done in the co-op’s St.
Augustine facility. The first year’s production
of the new variety will come
from an estimated 4,000 acres and will
triple in the second year, according to
Smith. As many as 30,000 acres are
projected to be in Sunlite production
in three years.
SunFresh cooperative growers also
have planted SunLites near Immokalee
in south Florida. Flexibility in harvesting
and shipping is a distinct advantage
as the market moves from the south to
the north. And, with multiple growing
locations, co-op members believe they
are better protected against bad weather,
which has besieged Florida growers
in recent years.
Smith says that Sunfresh will add
additional producer members as
demand for the innovative tuber
exceeds current member’s capacity.
There will also be a need to add production
during times when Florida
growers have no potatoes to sell. The
co-op’s five-year plan calls for spreading
production to 10 states and developing
six packing and distribution
facilities.
If there is a downside to marketing
SunLite as a premium table potato, it
is the larger percentage of culls —
potatoes that don’t pass visual
appearance standards. Although
culls, or “No. 2s,” are identical in
nutritional value to their more visually
appealing counterparts, even
small surface blemishes result in
downgrading. This has spurred the
co-op to look into additional markets,
such as the school lunch system. As
production increases, additional possibilities
include a variety of frozen
packaged potato products.
The future of Florida’s potato farmers
is looking brighter these days, and
as USDA Rural Development State
Director Charles W. Clemons Sr. said
at a press conference last summer:
“Not only will the low-carb potato
bring desirable options to the
American consumer, it will energize
Florida’s potato industry with
increased market share.” And that’s no
small potatoes for Florida’s $120 million
industry.
