AboutJim Gawley Expertise Economic and statistical questions about all aspects of the U.S. Food industry and the food processors that supply them. Please, no questions about "How do I start a business that...?"
I saw that you mentioned Alexia Foods in another posting, so I thought you may be able to point me in the right direction.
I am working for the local borough on a project researching the feasibility of a small vegetable processing center in Palmer, Alaska. We are in the early stages of determining what value-added vegetable products should be produced. There is a very short window for growing and harvesting peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini. Carrots and potatoes store well and can be processed through most of the year. Mainly, products will be frozen-processed, but we are also looking at the idea of blanched, refrigerable potato products (e.g., mashed and rissole potatoes of Alexia Foods).
We have no other processors in the state making similar products, so I am looking to tap whatever resources I can find that might help us better understand vegetable processing.
Growing conditions (long daylight hours, cool) here result in relatively high sugar content, which makes for wonderful, sweet carrots and peas but may not be a desirable quality for potatoes. From what I understand, the high water and sugar content of our potatoes is not ideal for making fried potato products, although it appears that reducing sugars can be lowered by reconditioning potatoes at warmer temperatures during the last stages of storage.
A sliced, diced, or cubed blanched ready-to-use potato product is looking like it may be promising....We need to understand whether certain varieties work best for fresh blanched, and whether the sugar, starch content, and storage and conditioning elements are as critical to the fresh cooked potato processing process as they are to french frying.
I appreciate your time and thank you for any information you can give me.
