Why are fresh potatoes marketed by category type and not by the variety?
For years some consumers have struggled to buy the right potatoes. Going into stores they may assume all red or yellow potatoes are the same, but that isn’t always the case. They may look around the produce aisle and question why potatoes aren’t sold by variety like apples, or wonder if there’s something wrong with the potatoes they had bought that day and didn’t cook as expected.
“Sometimes it’s a catastrophic failure. And that’s the worst thing we can happen to potatoes is that variability. People, if they have enough failures, will actually walk away and (cook other food products instead),” Aron Derbidge, president of HZPC Americas Corp., says in a Zoom meeting.
The versatility of potatoes has always been one of their selling features. However, if you don’t use the right potato variety or type to make a dish, it may not turn out right causing consumers to shy away from spuds.
“Right now, what’s critical in food service is convenience and really kind of leaning in on the
type of potatoes that are going to be easy to turn around on menus — (products) that consumers are going to recognize,” RJ Harvey, culinary director at Potatoes USA, says in a Microsoft Teams interview.
If consumer convenience and ease of understanding when shopping is important, then why not sell potatoes by variety name instead of category? On the grower side, this change could impact what opportunities growers have to expand and evolve their operations to meet demand.
“If one of the retailers went hard and drew attention to the specific variety name maybe that year the crop could underperform, or growers could switch to different varieties that are more suited to our conditions or something. It’s kind of like tying your cart to a horse that’s maybe not going to be there,” Mark Phillips, marketing specialist at the Prince Edward Island Potato Board, says in a phone interview.
And while it may seem like these consumer problems could be solved by selling potatoes by variety, it’s not that easy. Some regions do sell by variety but that isn’t the right fit for everywhere.
Selling Fresh Potatoes by the Variety
In Idaho, fresh potatoes have been sold by variety for almost a century. In 1937, Idaho potato growers banded together deciding that instead of competing against each other to market and sell their spuds, they should work together.
“Each shipper was only so big and only had so much of a budget. If they were able to create an organization that all of them could pay into equally, then that would generate more reach for their marketing programs,” Ross Johnson, vice president of retail and international for the Idaho Potato Commission, says in a phone interview.
The state has a marketing order that puts all its fresh potato shippers on a level playing field. It also requires every package of potatoes to be labelled with the variety name that is in it.
“Labeling the variety is one thing. But the other thing that we do is any fresh potato that leaves Idaho, the package has to be stamped with the state of Idaho. We certify all of our potatoes so that it makes it easier for consumers to find them all over the world,” Johnson explains.
The Idaho Potato Commission is unique in that it has a marketing division that oversees promotion of their potatoes locally, nationally and internationally. The commission also works directly with grocery stores.
“A lot of that just comes down to education on potatoes in general. And trying to drive in-store promotions to help Idaho potatoes stand out from the other growing regions within the U.S.,” Johnson adds.
The commission has found there is demand for certain varieties the state grows. Idaho varieties such as Burbank Russet and Russet Norkotah are popular.
“We do find that there is a specific demand for varieties. The fact that we label our potatoes makes it a lot easier for (consumers) to seek out the variety that they’re looking for,” Johnson says.
At HZPC, they support selling fresh potatoes by variety and not by category. The seed potato company has invested in developing varieties with specific cooking traits and has even done market research on what consumer potato preferences through its Potato Glory program.
“Our consumers are not well enough informed. Unfortunately, some of our consumers, especially in Gen Z, don’t understand potatoes are vegetables. So, we have a lot to do in order to have that conversation with them. I think we can do better as an industry to start delivering that consistent experience for them,” Derbidge says.
Part of that conversation Derbidge believes is having all levels of the food chain from potato breeder to grower to store to consumer share their priorities and preferences. This would allow for all levels to work in tandem to deliver a consistent potato preparation and eating experience.
Marketing Fresh Potatoes by Type
Not every region sees selling potatoes by variety as the best option. At Potatoes USA, their mission is to strengthen the long-term demand for potatoes. They do this through marketing and communications programs to track potato sales and promote potato consumption.
“We know about 85 per cent of households purchase potatoes annually. They’re considered a staple household item — (consumers are) buying them consistently without always a purpose in mind. If we’re going into a variety in terms of marketing, it’s going to impact that demand from consumers and also the supply situation as well,” Kayla Vogel, senior global marketing manager for consumer and retail with Potatoes USA, explains in a Microsoft Teams interview.
Marketing potatoes by broader categories and not specific variety ensures availability. It also guarantees new varieties can be tried out by growers. New potato varieties are being developed to address production challenges such as drought or disease concerns and growers want to grow them, Phillips with the P.E.I. Potato Board says.
“There are many new varieties being tried and it takes a long time to know if a variety is really going to work. It might work from a taste standpoint, you have a couple dry years it’s great but then there’s a wet season and that potato doesn’t really perform well under those conditions,” he adds.
While consumers may get to see the new wealth of variety names being grown on store shelves, these new varieties are causing there to be more options of potatoes to buy. There has been a shift from red to yellow fresh potato varieties planted by potato growers, which is leading to there being more potato types available on store shelves.
“You’re seeing an increase in the number of stores that are carrying those special varieties. There are more opportunities for consumers to buy more different types of potatoes,”
Vogel says. “Those new specialty varieties or other types that are coming out aren’t necessarily cannibalizing the sales of the traditional ones that consumers would buy.”
Potatoes USA has found through market research that consumers are looking for more diversity on their menus. As part of Potatoes USA’s work, the group does consumer and chef education on how to use the different types of potatoes in recipes.
“You wouldn’t want to use a variety like a russet in something that is going to break down the potato too much. So (for) soups, stews, braises, we tend to educate the chefs that they would want to select a red or a yellow or white or something that’s going to be a little bit more resilient,” Harvey says.
In the past, cooking education had focused on starchy versus waxy varieties but now Potatoes USA uses a more detailed education strategy. Harvey explains that each variety of potato fits into a specific type for cooking preparation. There are seven major types of potatoes that Potatoes USA focuses its education strategies on including russets, reds, yellows, whites, blue/purples, fingerlings and petites.
“What we found is that consumers are already kind of confused about what to do with just those different types of potatoes, those seven major types. So, adding varietals into that conversation would add to the confusion when it comes to how to prepare these different types of potatoes,” Harvey adds.
The Little Potato Company has leaned into this type of marketing. The Canadian-based fresh potato marketer uses product names such as “Little Yellows” and “Little Fingerlings” to emphasize that these are distinctive products from their company.
“We think that really helps our consumers think in relation to large potatoes that they might be more familiar with. So, we’re just trying to make things easy for consumers and make their decisions easier in store,” Sanford Gleddie, executive vice president of sales, marketing and business development with the Little Potato Company, explains in a phone interview.
The company has multiple variety types for each of these products. The varieties have similar sensory traits so the company can ensure they have consistent supplies.
“We’ve done a lot of research to figure out what are the handful of sensory traits that really create that potato love for that consumer. So, from this research we found six or seven traits around visual, the look of the potato, the taste, the texture, the aroma, that really triggered that’s what I want in a potato. We know what those are, and we breed our specific varieties and select varieties based on having those traits,” Gleddie says.
He adds that over the years the company has become more attuned to what its customer base needs and wants when it comes to potatoes, allowing the Little Potato Company to breed potato varieties to match consumer preferences. It also lets the company understand how to market its potatoes to consumers.
The Future of Fresh Potato Sales
Marketing by variety over category type could pigeonhole the potato and retail industries some in the industry say. If a retailer were to decide it would only carry one variety and then that variety isn’t grown one year, what is that retailer to do?
“In terms of how we market, it could really have a long-term impact on the overall volume sales that are being sold in stores if you get into the varietal space in a negative way and not allow our growers that flexibility,” Vogel says.
Marketing by category or type allows growers to have the flexibility to grow the varieties that work best for them and their own operations. On the consumer side it allows shoppers to be able to select the types of potatoes they need for cooking and not be left searching for a certain variety.
There are also production costs to consider when it comes to marketing by variety. To sell potatoes by variety, packaging would have to be unique to each variety, which would increase packaging costs and slow production lines at packaging plants.
Already each “packer has to keep track if this load is ‘Product of Canada’, the next load is ‘Product of P.E.I.’, the next day it’s something different. There’s already quite a large packaging inventory that these packers have to keep on hand, so they’re likely not interested in bringing even more of that on,” Phillips explains.
Derbidge thinks there is opportunity for the North American potato industry to market by variety, but the reason it’s not being done is due to communication struggles with consumers and retailers. He said HZPC is actively trying to find a way to communicate with the whole food chain through its Potato Glory campaign.
“I think the greater risk is that we have one variety and a particular label that cooks a certain way for six months out of the year. And then we swap it over to a different variety that cooks completely differently. And then that buyer moves away from potato,” he says.
The first step to standardize marketing across the potato industry is to make uniform potato categories, Derbidge says. For example, using the seven major potato types from Potatoes USA to market all fresh potatoes. This would allow consumers to learn more about how to cook potatoes and reduce confusion when shopping for spuds. From there he thinks the industry could expand into educating consumers about shopping based on variety, including which specific varieties can be expected to be available at certain times during the year.
“It all has to start with really delivering (shoppers) that consistent experience that we know we can do with potatoes, even though it might take 10 varieties to do so throughout the course of the year. If we’re diligent about it as an industry, we can deliver what the customers need,” Derbidge says
The answer to how to sell fresh potatoes isn’t simple with pros and cons to selling by both by variety or category. However, no matter what way potatoes are being marketed, consumer education on cooking potatoes is key.
Header photo — Loading a 10-pound paper potato bagger at Mid Isle Farms in Prince Edward Island. Photo: Prince Edward Island Potato Board
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