Since 1924 Downey Potato Farms has
provided #1 Canadian Grade potatoes to
retailers and consumers across Ontario

Retailer Information

Right from the start of May, we begin our quest to bring the freshest possible potatoes to the supermarket, warehouse and dinner table. Every year, we begin that process by planting the five varieties of potatoes that we specialize in — Shepody, Cal White, Superior, Gold Rush and Yukon Gold. Each acre can yield up to 30,000 pounds of potatoes. As well, our family also grows barley and alfalfa on a rotating basis on our land.

See our Fact Sheet (56KB PDF) for details on the potatoes we grow.

Harvesting & Storage

After weeks of careful irrigation and pest management to ensure a superior product, our farm operates some of the best modern and innovative technology available to harvest the potatoes. In an effort to harvest the vegetables in the most efficient way, while taking the utmost care to avoid bruising or other damage, we use a state-of-the-art, 300-horsepower self-propelled harvester which can carefully pick 16 rows of potatoes at a time, gently removing the vegetable from the plant underground.

With this new technology, Downey Farms can harvest and fill a truck with 30,000 pounds of potatoes in about 10 minutes.

Once the trucks are loaded in the field, the potatoes are then transported to our state-of-the-art storage facility where they are carefully unloaded. At this stage, employees remove dirt and rocks and carefully examine the crop, pulling rotten and potatoes with defects from the line as we pride ourselves on our stringent quality assurance.

The packaging line is designed for two grading stations to ensure only the best potatoes move on to the next stage of the process. From here, the vegetables are placed onto a conveyor belt and put in a bin piler where they are transported to one of our family’s modern, new, computer-controlled storage facilities with a holding capacity of up to 24 million pounds where they wait for the orders to be filled.

Storage & Freshness

Our two storage buildings, which stand more than 80-feet wide, 200-feet long and 18-feet high, can hold a total of 24 million pounds of potatoes and each feature computer automation which carefully controls air quality, humidity and temperature, which is set at about 45-degrees Fahrenheit to keep the product field fresh for up to 11 months, compared to just eight months when using conventional technology.

Packaging & Efficiencies

Once an order is placed, the potatoes, which are treated like eggs and handled very cautiously to prevent bruising, are moved to a production and packaging facility also located right on site, which makes Downey Farms a more efficient operation when compared to others who must have products shipped to their facilities, increasing the potential for bruising and other damage.

At the production facility, each potato is carefully washed and thoroughly examined at a second grading station for quality. The potatoes are then separated by size and placed into the appropriate packages. To best serve our retail and farm-gate customers, Downey Farms offers five-pound poly bags and 10-pound and 20-pound paper bags. We also provide 50-pound bags of regular and large potatoes.

With the state-of-the-art equipment used by Downey Farms, most customers can have their orders within a day based on our family’s pack-on-demand abilities, ensuring product quality and freshness and meeting the needs and strict deadlines of our large retail or restaurant customers.

Results

Using our innovative modern technology, combined with our small, family-farm atmosphere, Downey Farms has grown Ontario’s best potatoes since 1924 and we have now placed ourselves as the province’s premiere potato growing, packaging and distributing company.

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