Albert Wada
Pingree
Characterized as a visionary “fearless in chasing ideas to keep up with consumers”, potato farmer, producer and exporter, Albert Wada has been named to the 2017 Eastern Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Wada was born shortly after his family moved from California to Idaho at the outbreak of World War II. The family put down roots on a rented farm in the Pingree area to avoid internment when Japanese Americans were forced to relocate from the West Coast. Wada worked alongside his father, Frank, graduating from Blackfoot High School and Idaho State University.
When his father retired, Wada bought the 400-acre family farm, added additional acres, and went on to develop Wada Farms Inc. into a successful Idaho-based agri-business, growing potatoes for seed, fresh and process markets.
Under Wada’s leadership, in 1992, the farm became a grower/shipper with their first packing facility. Always trying to stay ahead of the market, in 2008, Wada began working with a category management firm for consumer analysis, to better understand the end user of their products and improve retail service. He established “Wada Farms Marketing Group” now a leading supplier of fresh produce in the U.S. and around the world.
Wada is a nationally honored potato industry leader active at the state and national level of production leadership and other ag-related civic organizations.
Wada and his wife Christine are the parents of four children Bryan, Andrea, Jennifer and Christopher.