Texas-grown red potatoes set for record harvest

Black Gold Farms, a red potato grower/packer/shippers, is preparing for a record harvest of its Texan Reds beginning the first week of May.

The farm has been growing fresh red potatoes in Pearsall, Texas – about an hour down Interstate 35 from San Antonio – since 2011. But the 88-year-old, fourth-generation family-owned operation has actually been farming potatoes in Pearsall since 1992, focusing on growing potatoes specifically for potato chips.

Black Gold Farms is ready to support this season’s Texan Reds with consumer offers and sweepstakes, display contests, in-store communication including retailer-specific Kwik Loks, posters and signs as well as social media activities, produce associate training initiatives and even hands-on tours of their Pearsall farm.

In an October 2015 Harris poll, 67 percent of Americans said it is important to buy locally grown/sourced produce – more than any other food category – and sales of locally-raised produce including red potatoes are increasing rapidly, Black Gold Farms said. This is why Black Gold Farms is expanding its locally-grown program in 2016, with North Carolina being added to a roster that already includes Missouri, Indiana and Texas, plus Minnesota slated to come onboard in 2017.

This is shaping up to be our finest crop of red potatoes yet” said Jay Yates, farm manager for Black Gold’s Pearsall operation.

Photo: Black Gold Farms