Potato News from Colorado

A new video campaign has been launched by Potatoes USA to help combat meal fatigue and show consumer the many different meals that can be prepared using potatoes.

United States potato exports continue to recover but remain behind previous year levels. Exports for the first six months of the marketing year, July – December 2020, are behind the record levels set in 2019.

Record potato retail sales continued from October to December 2020, the second quarter of Potatoes USA’s marketing year 2021. All three months saw an increase in both dollar and volume sales, with the largest growth in December.

In a recent study published in the MPMI journal, scientists from CSU revealed that metabolites from S. chacoense contribute to disease resistance by altering the pathogenic behavior of Pectobacterium brasiliense, rather than inhibiting its growth or killing it.

US potato imports for the first quarter of the July 2020 – June 2021 marketing year were up 19% in total, according to a news release issued by Potatoes USA.

Record potato sales continued at US retail from July through September 2020. Total store potato sales increased by 13.6% in dollar sales and 10.6% in volume sales, compared to the same time frame in 2019.

U.S. potato exports for the July – September quarter were down significantly compared to the same period in 2019. This drop is a result of the pandemic's continuing impact on the demand in many markets, particularly in SE Asia and Central America, and the tight supplies of U.S. frozen potato products.

US Fresh potato sales increased significantly from July 2019 through June 2020, and so did the number of households buying potatoes. Eighty-eight percent of households purchased potatoes on an average of 10 times during the 52-week period.

Since public health restrictions for COVID-19 were put in place, US potato sales at retail have been well above historical levels.

Just days before his Center, CO, operation kicked off its 2020 San Luis Valley potato season, Skyline Potato Co. General Manager Les Alderete said he was optimistic about the overall market situation and the coming year.

MountainKing Potatoes has added Cindy Adkins, a former owner and operator of the nation's largest certified organic packer of fingerling potatoes, to its team of sales representatives, the company says in a press release recently issued.

Retail potato sales in the United States are soaring, increasing 31% in dollar sales and 32% in volume sales between March 16, 2020 and June 14, 2020, according to IRI.

Retail potato sales soar, increasing 10.4% in dollar sales and 9.3% in volume sales between July 1, 2019, and May 19, 2020, according to IRI. All potato categories across the retail store, except deli-prepared sides, increased in dollar and volume sales, according to a report by Potatoes USA.

The utilization of U.S. grown potatoes increased by 3.3% in volume in 2019 compared to 2018, an increase of 1,183 million pounds.

Potatoes USA, the marketing and promotion board for the U.S. potato industry, elected its new leadership during its 48th Annual Meeting on March 11. The newly elected Chairman and Executive Committee will lead the 99 board members through 2020-2021.

Many consumers are stocking up on potatoes during these uncertain times, and it's important to make the most of these purchases. Heidi Alsum Randall, a potato farmer and mother from Wisconsin, provided the following thoughts:

Five months into the shipping season, Michele Peterson, who heads the Colorado sales office of Idaho Falls-based Wada Farms Marketing Group, was seeing the quality of the 2019 potato harvest in Colorado’s San Luis Valley measure up to her expectations.

Scientists have developed a user-friendly online tool called Uniqprimer, which quickly and automatically designs species-specific DNA tags (also known as primers) for detecting pathogens such as Dickeya dianthicola using DNA testing.