Targeting new demand for non-fry U.S. frozen product

Farm and Ranch Report August 10, 2011 Would you buy a half a frozen baked potato with a topping of salmon egg sauce to fix for dinner? Well, in Japan people do. And it is with such products the U.S. Potato Board is creating new demand for U.S. frozen potato products in a market already pretty well saturated with U.S. French fries.

The Potato Board’s Susan Weller says they are having success by attending such events as Japan’s Super Market Trade Show, which had an attendance of about 85-thousand people earlier this year.

Weller: “And we have actually been able to tap alternative channels, for example in marketing year 2010-2011, we tapped there alternative channels, two supermarkets, one cinema, and one online shopping by being in a trade show. And we have sixteen new items or menus launched through foodservice and three new retailers launched eight products in Japan by attending these shows and very specific activities that we have in Japan.”

So beyond the frozen baked potato with fish egg sauce, what type of products are we talking about?

Weller: “Crunchy, individual quick frozen shredded potatoes, mashed potatoes, sliced potatoes. You can see these are not fries that are going out into the market but they are actually non-fried potato products that are finding new buyers.”

And are being sold where they don’t compete against U.S. fries.

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.