Arrowhead Potato Co. To Improve Traceability of potatoes from Field to Store

Soon every Arrowhead Potato Co. spud will be traceable not only to the farm on which it was grown, but to the very field from which it was pulled.

Arrowhead, owned since 2007 by Moss Produce, has received a $300,000 Value-Added Producer Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The relatively small potato-packing and -shipping company will use the bulk of the money to enhance its products’ traceability. That way, if there’s a health scare with potatoes (think: cantaloupe crisis of 2011), the problem can be contained without widespread recalls and financial devastation to the Idaho potato industry.

“This will allow us to continue to sell potatoes to markets that require a higher standard of quality of safety,” said Klade Williams, Arrowhead chief financial officer. “It will allow us to continue to be viable.”

Williams said the federal government may soon mandate fruits and vegetables be traceable. For example, the Produce Traceability Initiative has ambitious plans to make every case of produce electronically traceable by 2012.