Retail promotions in Mexico boost U.S. frozen product sales

Farm and Ranch Report June 29, 2011 Recent retail promotions conducted by the U.S. Potato Board in Mexico for U.S. frozen potato products resulted in some large sale increases for retailers and U.S. growers.

The Potato Board’s Susan Weller says a promotion was held in conjunction with HEB supermarkets.

Weller: “And we ran promotions in seven different stores per week for a total of 21 stores during a month‘s period. And we reached basically 147 promotional days for four different products.”

The frozen products were straight cut, wedges, lattice basket weave and a potato “muncher” sold in the deli area. Weller says they fit in with the USPB’s strategy of expanding sales through new products or alternative channels.

Weller: “And that particular supermarket did not have some of those products featured in their deli section. So in a way it was an alternative channel because it was deli rather than just the frozen section of retail as well as they were new products.”

The Potato Board also started a promotion in “La Nueva Lupita”, a grocery stored located at Mexico City’s wholesale market.

The results of these promotions for U.S. frozen potato products? The store in Mexico City reported a sales increase of 342 percent during the promotion and 188 percent following it. The HEB stores saw sales increases of over 1700 percent during the promotion and 359 percent after it.

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.