Washington Grown
Kraig Knutzen is a fifth-generation grower from Burlington, Wash. who was elected to serve as chair of the U.S. Potato Board earlier this year. He was nominated to the board in 1999. Prior to his appointment to the executive committee, he participated as a committed member of the Industry Outreach, Domestic Marketing and International Marketing committees.
Knutzen has been heavily involved in his family’s potato operation for almost 20 years. Knutzen Farms was founded in 1864 by Jess H. Knutzen, an immigrant from Brogar, Denmark. Located in Skagit Valley, a small, fertile valley located in the northwest corner of Washington State, Knutzen Farms grow red, white and yellow potatoes and serve markets throughout the world with the labels Chuckanut Valley and Highland View and Naturally Healthy.
Knutzen is very proud of his family. He and his wife, Colleen, have two boys. Tyler, 14, is in 8th grade and Jake, 12, is in 6th grade both attend Bayview Elementary. The Knutzen family enjoys snow skiing in the winter and boating, fishing and crabbing in the summer.
Q: How do you feel about being the chairman of the U.S. Potato Board?
A: I’m honored that the membership has chosen me to lead this prestigious organization. I believe very strongly in the vision and goals of the Board, because we are making changes that are beneficial to all. I hope that when people think of me a fresh grower/packer from Washington state that they are confident the needs of the full potato industry are at the forefront of my mind. I promise to do my best.
Q: Is there anything specific you’d like to achieve while chairman?
A: Implementation of the Healthy Potato message is key this year. Our main issue is to drive the nutrition message to consumers. To realize this campaign’s full potential, we need to see a cohesive effort by everyone state and national organizations, growers of all sizes, shippers, processors and retailers. We need to make sure we leverage our programs with state programs to assure grower dollars are being utilized to the greatest potential. With a unified effort we can accomplish our goals much more efficiently.
Q: What do you think the greatest opportunities and challenges are for the board? The industry?
A: No individual grower or shipper has the ability or resources to effectively promote his own product. But as we all proved in the last six months, by operating collectively the word can spread like wildfire. With continued focus, we can bring the potato back to the cornerstone of the menu which is both a challenge and great opportunity.
There are international markets that are blossoming right now, and they present amazing opportunities for the export of U.S. potatoes. We need to continue to break down the market access barriers and increase the use of the world’s greatest potatoes U.S. potatoes. There is incredible growth potential for our industry. No matter what we do, the overall mission of the board is growing the pie in any way we can. We aren’t looking out for just one market.
I’ve talked about the opportunities and challenges let me talk about strength. What makes this organization so strong, giving me confidence that we can achieve all our goals, is that we’ve got an energetic and talented administrative committee and a strong executive committee comprised of open-minded, progressive thinkers. And just as important, the leadership that CEO Tim O’Connor has provided and the amazing staff that he has put in place are second to none extremely talented and enthusiastic professionals who have brought the USPB membership to life.
Q: What things have had the biggest impression on you as a grower leader on the USPB?
A: That’s easy. I am so impressed with how quickly the board was able to conduct and respond to consumer attitude research, which was the force behind the development of the Healthy Potato campaign. We didn’t even have this information at last year’s annual meeting (2003), but within a matter of nine months, we were able to stop, re-double our efforts in consumer PR, develop a brand new, integrated campaign, get the program out to the industry, and launch it to the consumer. Amazing!
It’s evident by the results I’ve seen with each committee I’ve worked on that our programs are based upon the best sources of information available. I do want to point out that the real work is done in committees. The chairman’s role is to assist in implementing the long-range plan with the goal of achieving a return on grower’s investment.
Q: Was anyone instrumental in preparing you to be chairman?
A: All the past chairs I have worked with over the past five years have demonstrated such great, diverse leadership abilities and skills. It has taken that collective group of leaders to bring this Board to the level of productivity that has today. The support I have received from the entire exec committee as well as administrative and general membership has been overwhelming.
Q: Tell us about the summer meeting in La Conner, Wash.? How did you come about this choice and what does the Board’s administrative committee have to look forward to?
A: La Conner is a small historic town located on the waters of Puget Sound. Skagit Valley offers the Cascade mountain range within a half hour to east, Puget Sound wrapped around it to the west. Why we love the location so much is because we can literally walk out of the hotel to nearby potato fields. We are looking forward to hosting the summer meeting, August 10-12.
