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regional di erences that really matter. According to Merchandising Best Practices, a general rule is 45% shelf space for russets, 22% for yellow, 15% for white, and 18% for
red potatoes.
at is the general rule, but there are
regional SKU di erences, and knowing what they are can increase sales from nearly ve % to more than 10%, depending on the area of the country.
In California, for example, you want 8% each devoted to small-pack conventional and value-added, and 2% small-pack organic, while stores in the Great Lakes region do well with even higher percentages devoted to all three.
e best share for small-pack organic drops to just 1% in the Mid-South and Southeast, but the preferred display of small-pack, value- added is a whopping 17%.
Merchandising Best Practices found the optimal breakdown in the Northeast is 12% conventional-small pack, 16% value added and just 1% of small-pack organic.
e people from Idaho will tell you the key is the Russets, get them right, and the rest will fall into place.
“ e Idaho Potato Commission is well
positioned with multiple suppliers who can provide any variety of potato a retailer would like to stock their shelves with,” says Johnson. “However, in a recent study by Potatoes USA, it was proven that potato displays with a 45% space allocation to russet potatoes generate a 5.7% sales lift. is study speci cally went into more than 100 retailers across the country and
compared sales data to the layout of the potato category for each store.”
Others will answer the question about the best mix of colors and varieties with a de nite maybe.
“Seventy- ve percent should be yellows, reds, ngerlings and baby potatoes,” says Pope. “Twenty- ve percent should be conventional russets and whites. e proper mix of varieties is limitless. e Laratte, Australian Crescent and Red umb nger- ling varieties give the consumer a choice of a great potato to roast, boil or grill. e consumer is given these choices to distin- guish what they acknowledge as a good tasting potato.”
ere are even regional di erences worth noting in the mix of potato varieties that sell best, and even in the size spud consumers crave.
“Stores display from a 50-count to a 70-count potato,” says Cox. “In Texas, it seems more like the 50-count; a 50-count is a very large potato. e size of the display depends on the market you’re in.”
Optimizing the mix of varieties and the location of the display correctly can increase potato sales.
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