The new 15,000-square-foot warehouse and new line at Monte Vista Potato Growers (MVPG) in Monte Vista, Colo., will double the grower-shipper’s capabilities, according to general manager Jason Tillman.
In mid-August construction was well under way, and Tillman said the building will be ready by Oct. 15 for the first loads of this year’s potato crop.
“Our harvest will start in late August or early September,” Tillman said, noting it is about a week to 10 days early this year. “We’ll finish harvest Oct. 1.”
This year’s variety split is 70 percent russets, 25 percent yellows and 5 percent reds, and for the first time a couple of MVPG growers have organics that make up a scant 1 percent of the total. Tillman said the organics, mostly reds and yellows, will go through White Rock and will be packed in consumer-size 3- and 5-pound bags.
Optimistic about the new season, Tillman said MVPG shipped its last loads of 2015-16 potatoes in June to make way for the construction. He said the line includes two automated Celox sizer/sorters.
“An Idaho company is building our conveyors, and a local company is doing the tanks and installation,” Tillman said. The equipment is all controlled remotely.
Describing the move to automation, Tillman said, “Our warehouse foreman can control operations on his end remotely. Our growers use GPS and also have electronic weighing to monitor yields. Irrigation is controlled by phones and radios, and a few drones are being used for observation.”
There was no call for additional labor this season outside the construction process, and Tillman said farm and warehouse labor has become “really tough.”
Labor was one motivator for expansion, but the ability to do specialty packs was also key, and now the operation will offer more five to nine and six to 13 sizes.
Forty percent of the 2015-16 MVPG crop went to Mexico, and Tillman said that market continues to be a major part of the company’s retail and wholesale business.
“We will try to add a couple of growers this year to increase our volume so we can hit 800,000 to 850,000 hundredweight, and we hope to grow incrementally every year,” Tillman said. “Our customer based is enlarging, and we’re doing more co-packing with Mountain King.”
Source: The Produce News