NBC News Visits Alsum Farms & Produce to see a Potatoes Journey from Field to Fork
NBC 15 News visited Alsum Farms & Produce for a behind the scenes look at how Wisconsin Healthy Grown® certified Alsum potatoes make their way to 25 million Americans Thanksgiving dinner tables.
FRIESLAND, Wis. (WMTV) – As families across the Midwest prepare their Thanksgiving menus, Wisconsin potato growers are entering their busiest stretch of the year.
At Alsum Farms & Produce in Friesland, production ramps up to full capacity during Thanksgiving week, with workers washing, grading and packing tens of thousands of pounds of potatoes before most people wake up.
“We’re washing off 30 loads of potatoes a day,” said Christine Lindner, marketing manager at Alsum Farms & Produce.” Starting at 4 a.m. in the morning, our production team rises and begins washing those 30 loads or so of potatoes, of russet, red, yellow, and creamer sized potatoes.”
The family-owned farm has been operating for five decades and now grows around 2,700 acres of Wisconsin Healthy Grown potatoes across Arena and Adams County. The operation stretches from planting to storage to shipping — a vertically integrated system that helps keep fresh, local potatoes on store shelves year-round.
Lindner said Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to meet Thanksgiving demand.
“Wisconsin is actually ranked third in the nation for potato production. So east of the Mississippi River, Wisconsin is #1,” she said. “Our climate here in the state lends itself with the natural spring water, the sandy soils… our climate and culture really produces a high-quality Wisconsin Healthy Grown potato.”
During Thanksgiving week alone, Alsum said its output is enough to feed millions.
“This time of year is for packing potatoes. All hands-on deck,” said Nick Campbell, Chief Production and Engineering Officer. “All the teams have done a great job. They’ve really stepped up, put in the hours that we need, and everything’s running really well this year.”
Campbell said one thing that surprised him after joining the industry was how collaborative it is.
“We really work with quite a few Wisconsin-based growers. We have a great network. Generations and generations of coordination and relationships go into providing fresh-packed Wisconsin potatoes,” he said. “In potatoes and in farming, there’s a lot more cooperation or collaboration than you would expect in other types of manufacturing where it’s really cutthroat.”
From the moment potatoes arrive at the packing facility, the goal is to get them out the door quickly, and in the best condition possible.
“We receive the potatoes, we wash them, we make sure they’re in spec. Then we put them in a bag,” Campbell said. “This is where the magic happens, where those potatoes go from an aggregate into what your family is going to see when you bust it open on a Thanksgiving morning.”
And for many Wisconsin families, a bag of local potatoes is just as traditional as the turkey.
“Thanksgiving, it’s synonymous with family, it’s comfort, it’s hearty… potatoes are a very nutritious, delicious, and versatile product that you can bring to your family dinner,” Lindner said.
Seeing the finished product on store shelves, Lindner said, is still the most rewarding moment.
“In all sincerity, that’s really what makes me tick… when you get to go to a local grocer and you see Alsum Potatoes in there and you see families reaching into the bin and picking up this product. It makes knowingly that we all had a hand in getting it to market and serving our customer and having the best potato-eating experience possible.”
As for holiday inspiration, Alsum shares recipes online, including its well-known “Grandma Alsum’s mashed potatoes,” which pairs Wisconsin dairy with locally grown potatoes.
And when it comes to advice for the Thanksgiving table, Campbell keeps it simple: “Eat lots of potatoes.”