Potato grower goes plastic

Worley & McCullough, a grower-shipper in Colorado’s San Luis Valley that supplies over 1.5 million hundred-weight shipments in potatoes to grocery stores throughout the US, Canada and Mexico, has converted from a standard wooden pallet product distribution platform to a system integration of iGPS Logistics plastic pallets.

The company currently ships Colorado regional russet potatoes from its packing shed in Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley to grocery stores across North America.

Idaho-based Wada Farms Marketing Group LLC handles potato sales and marketing responsibilities for Worley & McCullough Inc, with most of the potatoes shipped under the Wada Farms name and Dole, as well as several private labels. A small number are still shipped under the Worley & McCullough shipping label.

“We are committed to promoting health, sustainability, family and our collective future—and by transitioning to the iGPS plastic pallets, we can ensure that we not only have the sturdier plastic pallet to handle distribution of our potatoes, but also a safer and more environmentally-friendly means of transporting them to our clients,” said Erin Cooper, grower relations/food safety manager and daughter of Jim McCullough.

The environmental advantages of plastic pallets which includes the fact they do not absorb pathogens or harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria—and are immune from insect contamination since pests cannot penetrate the plastic and infest the potatoes—meshes well with the philosophy of the company, which is using less chemicals by improving soil health.

“Given the safety and cleanliness of plastic pallets, along with the ability to track and trace deliveries throughout the distribution system, made it easy to adopt the iGPS plastic pallets as our mode of choice for shipping,” said Cooper.