US Potato Board Seminars Inspire New US Mashed Potatoes Uses

What can you do with mashed potatoes?

Just about anything!

That is the message Asia’s food service operators took home from seminars recently conducted by the United States Potato Board (USPB) international marketing program.

The mashed potato seminars, held May 3 in Bangkok, Thailand, and April 22 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, inspired 75 chefs, restaurateurs, bakers and others in Asia’s food service industry to see US mashed potatoes in a new light. The seminars were part of the USPB’s strategy to educate restaurants to think about mashed potatoes as a versatile ingredient rather than an end-product. This strategy is helping hike US exports of dehydrated potato products by creating new uses among the global food service industry.

During the seminar in Thailand, participants watched as well-known Chef Ian Kittichai demonstrated a variety of dishes using mashed potatoes as a base. Participants then tasted mashed potato pancakes with poached eggs, mashed potatoes and roasted duck with red curry sauce, mashed potato prik-king croquettes, mashed potatoes-massamun curry peanut sauce with chicken, as well as other dishes.

“Most people in Thailand associate mashed potatoes with a plain and bland taste,” explained USPB’s Thailand Representative, Kraipob Pangsapa. “The seminar inspired them with a new perception of mashed potatoes and helped them see it as a perfect ingredient to create new dishes with the vibrant tastes Thais prefer.”

The seminar focused on ease of preparation to highlight the product’s advantages. Also, as the chef was cooking, participants were given mini-portions of rehydrated potato flakes and granules, as well as finished recipes to taste for themselves at their tables. They experienced the convenience of rehydration, the versatility of US dehydrated potato products and their high quality taste.

In Vietnam, participants witnessed cooking demonstrations of dishes that varied from Vietnamese-style meatballs to Japanese-style potato salad to potato-chocolate sponge cake.  Vietnam is a market with little experience with US dehydrated potato products, and the seminar helped spur interest in purchasing these products.

“The promotion of mashed potatoes made from US dehydrated potato products is a key strategy for the USPB in international markets because it takes something familiar and builds on it,” said TK Kuwahara, USPB International Marketing Manager—Dehy. “Customers in international markets don’t always know what dehydrated potatoes are, but when we say ‘mashed potatoes,’ it strikes a chord. Then, we give them a whole new way of thinking about mashed potatoes, opening up new possibilities.”

A mashed potato seminar in Malaysia in 2010, for instance, prompted a five-star hotel to begin purchasing three types of US dehydrated potato products, which it uses in numerous menu items. A “Cod Fish Pie” made with US mashed potatoes has since become one of the hotel café’s most popular items.

In South Korea, an emphasis on mashed potatoes’ versatility helped maintain interest in a market constrained by access issues. This is helping position US dehydrated potato products to take advantage of recently improved access. Until this year, exports of US dehy to Korea were restricted by a tariff rate quota that rose to 304 percent after the first 60 metric tons were imported, basically capping exports at that level. This year, however, the duty-free quota jumped from 60 MT to 1500 MT, and the future ratification of a Free Trade Agreement with Korea will further open up that market.

The USPB is positioning US products to take advantage of this. Most recently, the USPB featured US mashed potatoes at the Food &Hotel Asia food show in Seoul, April 25-29, 2011. The USPB booth showcased different options, including deviled eggs made with US mashed potatoes, “beef sundaes,” mashed potato cupcakes and wasabi potatoes.

New uses and applications are one of several factors driving increases in exports of US dehydrated potato products. In the current marketing year, exports to target markets in Asia jumped 24 percent to 25,010 metric tons from July 2010 to March 2011. During the July 2010 to June 2011 marketing year (MY), exports to the same markets were 27,920 metric tons, up 31 percent over MY09/10.