“We cooked ‘em and tossed ‘em, they ate ‘em and caught ‘em.” said the elated Richard Leibowitz, Managing Director of the Specialty Potato Alliance. “We have such a talented team it is easy for any of us to wow the crowd but today we were upstaged by our product.” Mr. Leibowitz was referring to the new varieties that were sampled at the three day PMA exposition in Orlando. Over 3500 samples were handed out.
The Alliance introduced two new varieties at the show. The Rockey Rose made its debut on Saturday and was so popular that they ran out of samples well before the end of the day. The same thing happened on Sunday when they sampled the newest variety, the Merlot. “We had to wash fresh product in the booth and still we could not keep up.” noted Mark Pittenger, east coast sales manager. “It was really great to see the customers enjoying them so much. Our goal is to have our customers request these proprietary varieties by name.”
The varieties were developed for the Alliance by Sheldon Rockey of Rockey farms. Rockey Farms is a certified seed grower and a founding member of the Specialty Potato Alliance. He said that the Alliance tests several hundreds of crosses every year and even when they get a phenotype that they are pleased with it has to be tested for resistance and yield. Then it takes five generations to grow enough seed for fresh market. The product is maintained year round because Rockey Farms provides seed exclusively to Scot Pursel of Lehr Brothers in Bakersfield where he plants for the off season in Colorado. Lehr Brothers is also a founding member of the Specialty Potato Alliance.
PMA attendees were entertained as they munched on the amazing yet simply sautéed potatoes, by a series of educational potato games designed and hosted by the Alliance’s west coast sales manager, Jill Overdorf. Booth attendees tossed, carried, sorted, and balanced of fingerlings for fun and prizes while learning about each of the Alliance’s new varieties.
Source: Specialty Potato Alliance
