Purchase of Potato Granules Opens New Opportunities

Purchase of Potato Granules Opens New Opportunities

Last Week USDA announced the purchase of 240 metric tons of dehydrated potato granules and 320 MT of dehydrated potato flakes under the McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

TK Kuwahara, United States Potato Board International Marketing Manager for the Dehydrated Potato Program shares that this exciting news was more than five years of a lot of hard work by many in the potato industry.

Kuwahara: “This was the first time that fortified dehydrated potatoes have been purchased and programmed. We’ve manufactured them as an industry in smaller amounts and used them for test shipments to a variety of countries. But this is the first time that USDA has purchased a fortified potato product. And these two things really open the door for the industry in a number of different ways. Now organizations have access to a new product, granules. they also have access to potatoes as a base to fortify different nutrients that they may need for their programs.”

Prior to the purchase, only U.S. dehydrated potato flakes had been approved and purchased for food assistance programs. The inclusion of fortified potato granules marks an achievement for the USPB, which promotes the suitability of dehydrated potato products as a base for fortification.
This was the U.S. Potato Update brought to you by the United States Potato Board, maximizing return on grower investment. I’m KayDee Gilkey on the Ag Information Network.