You’ve asked a very good question. Some suggestions… If you are in or near a fresh Idaho potato shipper, in Idaho Falls Idaho for example quite often you can pick up a 50 pound carton that has just been packed by calling ahead. You can find a listing of all of our fresh Idaho® Potato Shippers at the following link: https://idahopotato.com/directory/shippers.

It can be very reasonable in cost for the potatoes, it is the shipping that will be a fortune. Especially during the winter, we recommend shipping overnight. The UPS and FedEx trucks are not refrigerated, and any surface transportation can take a while and may not arrive in the best of shape as their temps vary too. Air travel is not ideal either, but it is your best option for safe arrival of ready to eat Idaho russet bakers, reds, yellows or fingerlings.

If you are near or in a metropolitan area like Boise you can probably source the potatoes from a major grocery store by asking the produce manager ahead of time. Both WINCO and Albertson’s have done this for me before. I’ve also made arrangements with a local full service distributor such as Sysco or Food Services of America to pick up a carton at their “Will Call” office. Costco and some of the other big box stores carry jumbo sized Idaho Russets for much of the year.

If you no longer live in Idaho, you could check with the shippers to see if they will send on a carton, some can do this easily, with others it may be time interrupting if they are not set up to do so. I have also had success going to the Terminal Market in a city and requesting a box of Idaho potatoes from one of the vendors.

The best appearing potatoes I ever received at the other end were from a shipper that actually took one of those fifty pound burlap bags that No. 2 potatoes are packed in and they placed them on top inside the carton. The burlap absorbed some of the moisture of the potatoes (still a living breathing organism) and they arrived perfect.

Hope your friends enjoy the potatoes and think fondly of Idaho.