January 2022 - 11

WILL THE RECENTLY PASSED
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
PROVIDE ANY HELP?
Quarles: We've been urging Congress
to reauthorize the transportation
bill, which means creating a new
transportation bill that actually responds
to the present and the future instead
of looking in the rearview mirror.
The challenge is all the funding with
highways, roads and bridges have been
largely funded via the gas tax, which has
been kind of an antiquated measure. ... It
hasn't had a cost-of living increase in like
two decades; it hasn't accounted for all
these hybrid vehicles or electric vehicles,
so they really needed to come up with
something. ... For us, we're transporting
heavy cargo, whether domestically or
internationally, so we need access to
competitive roads, rail and obviously
commercial seaports. ... Even the most
modern seaports around the world are
struggling to keep up with the supply
chain issues, but the U.S. is really behind
the curve. The infrastructure inputs in
this country really have lagged behind
our fiercest competitors, like China, so
On the foodservice side of things, we see sales
starting to pick back up, particularly for frozen fries.
this new infrastructure funding really is
a good thing.
HOW IS THE DOMESTIC
MARKET FOR POTATOES
LOOKING?
Toaspern: It's been a fascinating ride
we've all been on the past 18-20 months.
A lot has changed. We're starting to
return to a pre-pandemic level, but not
really, not completely. I think many of
us are surprised how much we're still
in this changed environment. Sales at
retail continue to be strong, well above
where they were in 2019. They've come
down a little from where they were in
2020, of course, because there was so
much focus on retail.
On the foodservice side of things,
we see sales starting to pick back up,
particularly for frozen fries. The QSR
sector, as a whole, has recovered, or is
even above where it was pre-pandemic.
But there still are problems with
fresh and dehy that go to full service
restaurants or what we call beyond
restaurants - the travel and leisure,
schools, universities, etc.
WHAT ABOUT
INTERNATIONALLY?
Toaspern: The product we're facing
with exports has nothing to do with
demand, it has to do with problems with
the supply chain and the ability to ship
our product, particularly to Asia. That
has really had an impact. It has delayed
bookings and increased costs, reducing
our ability to move our product. It has
forced some folks to take some drastic
measures, like chartering 747s to
airfreight fries into Japan or hiring full
trains to take fries down the ports in
the Gulf coast to and them through the
(Panama) Canal because that's quicker
than getting a boat off the West Coast.
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registered trademarks owned by NUTRIEN Ltd. 09/21-74764-2
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Spudman * January 2022
2021-09-29 11:26 AM
9
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January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022
