04/03/08 Potato nutrition message

You may have already seen or heard the newest potato nutrition message; Potatoes, Goodness Unearthed. O'CONNOR "Where it's a long term campaign platform for the industry and that we can build a lot of messages around it but it's the long term platform that we'll stay with." Tim O'Connor is the President and CEO of the US Potato Board and his organization spent the winter getting the new message out to the industry. USPB's David Fairbourne says Potatoes, Goodness Unearthed logos and materials are available to all growers and shippers. They hired a marketing company that has worked with other commodity groups to prepare for the next phase. FAIRBOURNE "Putting together a package for us that we're working with and we hope to roll out with a full fledged marketing campaign here in September." The potato industry's new campaign signature joins a growing list of agriculture commodities that have established identities through lasting consumer messages like 'Got Milk' or 'Pork, the Other White Meat.' Fairbourne says "Goodness Unearthed" is all about the nutritional value of the spud. FAIRBOURNE "They connect with that and think, oh well potatoes really are good for me and they do have relevance and they are important in my life." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott