Page 41 - February2019

EXPLOSION OF FAST-FIX POTATOES ADDS EXCITEMENT TO CATEGORY
Knowing what convenience-driven consumers crave can give produce sections a big lift.
SBY CAROL M. BAREUTHER
erving fresh-cooked potatoes for dinner meant up to an hour’s prep time as little as a decade ago. No longer. Enter fast- xing, value- added potatoes.
“Growers are doing a great job with this category, be it with the choice of potato, avor- ings or packaging,” says Richard Stiles, recently retired director of produce and oral for Redner’s Markets, a Reading, PA-chain with 44 markets and 13 quick shoppes in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. “ ese convenience products have really taken o with consumers.”
Value-added potatoes, in its broadest de ni- tion, range from shelf-stable to refrigerated to frozen potatoes. Chips (+1 percent), refrigerated (+7 percent) and frozen (+3 percent) increased in dollar sales during the 52 weeks ending December 30, 2018, according to point-of-sale data from Chicago, IL-headquartered market research rm, IRI, as shared by potato grower/ marketer RPE, Inc., in Bancroft, WI.
“While value-added potatoes will continue to be a growing segment in the category, most
growth in the past year was in the fresh- bagged potato segment,” says Russell Wysocki, president of RPE, makers of Tasteful Selec- tions brand of bite-sized potatoes, some with added avorings and cook-in-bag packaging. “Our company’s value-added potato products are up 17 percent versus a year ago.”
ere are two major challenges for retailers in maximizing sales of fresh value-added potatoes: knowing what constitutes products in this category and nding ways to intro- duce these newer products to consumers. e opportunities are incremental sales on high- margin items that tick the boxes for today’s consumer’s biggest culinary demand trends.
EVOLVING PRODUCTS DEFINE CATEGORY
Value-added can be as simple as a potato being pre-washed, according to Rachael Lynch, global marketing manager for Denver, CO-headquartered Potatoes USA, the nation’s potato marketing organization.
Potatoes ranked rst as respondents’ favorite vegetable in the 2018 Attitudes & Usage Quantative Report by Potatoes USA, and second to pasta as the preferred carbohy-
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBINSON FRESH, LITTLE POTATO COMPANY, WILCOX FRESH, ALSUM AND FRESH SOLUTIONS NETWORK
drate. As for important food attributes, over half of respondents strongly agreed that avor and freshness were the top two, with one-third desiring convenience. For a potato dish to be convenient, respondents said key was that it be suitable for all household members and require less time to prepare and cook and with minimal steps.
ere’s no o cial industry de nition of a value-added potato product. at said, it can be challenging to get a clear idea of just what makes up this category. Yet a de nition, the scope of these products and what they o er to consumers constitutes the basis for e ective merchandising.
“At its most broad de nition, you could say our creamer potatoes are value-added,” says Richard Vann, vice president of marketing and product innovation for e Little Potato Company, with the U.S. headquarters of this Edmonton, Alberta-founded company in DeForest, WI. “ e skins are thin, so no peeling is required. ey are triple-washed, and they are all the same size. Our strength is in our sizing. After all, you want all the potatoes in the same bag to cook evenly.”
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