Giving the retailer a potato performance review

Farm and Ranch Report August 11, 2010 Retail Outreach presentations are the foundation of the U.S. Potato Board’s domestic retail development program. That’s how board consultant Don Ladhoff sees it.

Ladhoff: “It is the base of the pyramid. It is one of the most direct, impactful ways we give the retail trade the benefit of the research, the insights, the best practices, the sales analysis that we do at the USPB.”

Ladhoff says the presentations to retailers of about 90 to 120 minutes often result in an ongoing dialogue with the retailer wanting to participate in other Potato Board programs, such as Best Practices.

Ten presentations were made this past fiscal year to retailers of 100 stores and more. Ladhoff says the incremental sales projected for those retailers were tracked.

Ladhoff: “Based on the opportunities that we had found by doing a pro forma, you know if you added these items to your assortment, or if you improved your promotional efficiency, we would project this kind of dollar gain. And we were able to show the retailers better than ten-million dollars of incremental potato sales potential just from those ten meetings.”

And Ladhoff says Retail Outreach is being expanded from ten to fifteem presentations a year.

That’s the U.S. Potato Update. Brought to you by the United States Potato Board, maximizing return on grower investment. I’m Bob Hoff for Northwest Aginfo Net.