Potato Products of Idaho wins innovation award

Potato Products of Idaho, a small company that makes specialty baked potato products is the recipient of Idaho TechHelp's spring 2008 Spirit of Continuous Innovation Award.

Potato Products of Idaho, based in Rigby, Idaho, makes specialty products such as the Minutebaker and Premium Baker. The Minutebaker is a fully-cooked and frozen Idaho spud that cooks up in a fraction of the time of raw potatoes, the company said.

Idaho potato grower and shipper Dale Mickelsen and Alan Taylor, a fresh shipper, are owners of Potato Products of Idaho, which started operations about eight years ago.

By going beyond fresh potato sales, the two businessmen hoped to capitalize on the growing demand among consumers for food products that are quick and easy to prepare.

"It's given us some more value-added products to sell,"Mickelsen said. "It's just another way to sell to the consumer."

Today, Potato Products of Idaho has about 60 employees and sells its products all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Far East, said company president and CEO Jerry Hastings.

"In the last three years, we've tripled our sales,"Hastings said. "Of course, we're not a big company, but for us, it's a lot."