Potato Expo 2023 Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The Potato Expo, sponsored by the National Potato Council, is the biggest annual gathering for the potato industry. This year’s Potato Expo, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colorado, was held last week.
After a rough couple of years, NPC CEO, Kam Quarles says, it felt good …
QUARLES … “It’s been a wonderful event. Two years ago, we had to just have a virtual Expo. Last year, Omicron hit us pretty hard. It felt really great to have an Expo that was entirely back, full-blast. It’s the biggest Expo show-floor that we ever had. Our attendance was just off the charts. It felt really, really good.”
I asked Quarles if it went as well as they’d hoped? …
QUARLES … “Yeah, I think so. I think a lot of folks certainly just wanted to be back to business. This Denver, where we are at the Gaylord Rockies, the facility has just been fantastic for us. And I think we had a lot of really high-quality speakers and terrific events. Shoot, we had three Food Network celebrity chefs joining us, cooking potatoes and just having a great time. It was a ton of fun.”
And next year, Quarles says, they’re headed back to Austin …
QUARLES … “People really enjoyed Austin. That was back in 2019. And we’re returning to Austin again. That was a terrific show. We think that this one we’re going to be doing a year from now will be great.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the Potato Expo and the Food Network chefs who made it special.
