12/29/06 Consumer trends and potatoes

Farm and Ranch December 29, 2006 What do consumers want in food? Dee Munson of The Food Professionals in Seattle boiled it down to three key things for participants at the Washington State Potato Commission's recent long range planning session. Munson: "Consumers want these three things; taste, convenience and nutrition. That's what they are looking for. There are a lot of sub-trends below that, but when you think about it everything else fits into that. Taste for example is paramount. That always comes out number one." The Food Professionals are working on a chef educator program for the Potato Commission. Munson says potatoes partner well with many things but they generally have been high-fat and high sodium. Munson: "So we are going to come up with recipes to get out to chefs and chef students, student chefs to be, that use healthier partners to take advantage of the real health benefits of potatoes." Munson says frozen potato products are doing well on convenience and changes are occurring for fresh potatoes too with smaller packages for today's smaller families. Specialty potatoes have been discovered by consumers and Munson sees them growing in importance, which means a need for consumer education about how to best use these different varieties. Finally, another trend Munson emphasizes is today's consumer's concern for sustainability, ethics and social responsibility. Munson: "I want to know that I am not ruining the world by eating this particular food. So that sense of social responsibility is very important to the consumer." That's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report. Brought to you in part by the Washington State Potato Commission. Nutrition today! Good health tomorrow! I'm Bob Hoff on the Northwest Ag Information Network.