U.S. fresh potato sales skyrocket after retail promotion in Mexico

Farm and Ranch Report June 1, 2011 The U.S. Potato Board reports that retail promotions it conducted at 11 Smart stores in Mexico recently resulted in a 746 percent increase in sales of U.S. fresh potatoes. And Colorado grower Monty Smith, who co-chairs the Potato Board’s International Marketing Committee, points out that currently U.S. fresh potatoes can only go 26 kilometers into Mexico along the northern border.

Smith: “We are touching just a very tiny segment of the retail possibilities in Mexico and if we have seen a 700% increase in those areas just think of what lies in store for U.S. potatoes in the future should we gain access to the entire country.”

And industry efforts are underway to gain full access.

Smith says there is an added bonus for U.S. potato growers with sales to Mexico.

Smith: “Up to this point, in general, we have received a premium as growers and shippers of fresh potatoes on potatoes that we have shipped to Mexico over the domestic market. And we have found that Mexican customers are willing to pay for money. So not only does it equate to more dollars because of volume but actual dollars per hundredweight of potatoes exported.”

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.