The newly-opened Monte Carlo pub, entertainment and restaurant has launched eight dishes of steak and sausages, serving mashed potatoes prepared from US instant mashed potatoes as side dishes.

The restaurant created menus customers can enjoy while drinking. Since beverages are the core product, the restaurant owner and chefs sought to create dishes that are not complicated to prepare, while at the same time offering great taste and fine dining experience with the main focus on Western cuisine. Learning about US instant mashed potatoes from a local distributor, they decided to opt for US instant mashed potatoes since it is convenient to prepare and store.

Morgen, the premium outlet of EZ’s sausage group, added a new mashed potato item for their new outlet at Esplanade. EZ’s Sausages has been serving mashed potatoes prepared from US instant mashed potatoes for 20 years. Despite this long period, they only serve plain mashed potatoes as a side dish and as an individual dish. This is the first time they have developed a new mashed potato menu with the aim to increase more varieties and also more usage of US instant mashed potatoes.

School children in Guinea Bissau and the Congo will continue to receive US dehydrated potatoes as part of their lunch ration. The private voluntary organization (PVO), International Partnership for Human Development (IPHD), has been programming dehy through the McGovern Dole Food for Education program in both countries. Total purchases for fiscal year 2012 (July 2011 – June 2012) have equaled 980 MT (140,458 cwt. fwe).

As part of the market access protocol to ship US chipping potatoes to Japan, sheds and farms must first be inspected by the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Working with USDA-APHIS, the state departments of agriculture and the Oregon Potato Commission and Washington State Potato Commission, the United States Potato Board (USPB) arranged a visit to sheds and fields in Nevada, Oregon, California and Washington. All of the sheds and corresponding fields were approved, and shipments will take place from them in 2012 and 2013.

The USPB representative in Singapore spent six months of intensive discussion and negotiations with the institution of higher learning, Temasek Polytechnic, a government body, to gain their approval of a pamphlet that highlights how potatoes can play a key role in a gluten-free diet. The pamphlet will target consumers, chefs and retailers as part of the USPB table-stock maintenance program there.

Ocean World is launching three select new menus of Potato Hotdog, Butter-Baked Baby Potato, and Potato Hash Brown at eight stores located in the water amusement park, Ocean World. The launch promotion runs from June 28-August 21.

At the Jamshil Baseball Stadium, they are launching the same three new menus at four stores. Jamshil Stadium, the biggest baseball park in Korea with the biggest number of spectators, and located in Seoul, is the home field for two baseball teams – Doosan Bears and LG Twins. This launch promotion also runs June 28-August 21.

Packaged in a 600 gram size bag, the new products are deli wedge, regular cuts and seasoned wedge. While they started to sell the products at medium-scale retail chains such as Good Morning Mart and Top Mart, Semiwon Food is also launching these new products at most major online shopping malls. USPB Korea is supporting the launch at online malls with educational flyers for all purchasers, as well as a US frozen potato consumer nutrition education advertisement in the online mall webpages that contains a link to USPB Korea website.

Just before Memorial Day, the USPB kicked-off the final Facebook promotion of the fiscal year, the “Summer of Sides Sweepstakes,” leveraging the season with a sweepstakes that played up a favorite side dish and touched on “Linda’s” emotional tie to the summer months by asking her to share favorite summer mealtime traditions. The sweepstakes ran for four weeks, from May 25 to June 22, and invited “Linda” to answer a new question each week, enabling “Linda” to engage multiple times for the chance to win a new prize every week.

Over the course of four weeks, the sweepstakes grew the fan base by 1,107 new “likes” and garnered a total of 1,558 entries. In addition, a total of 2,711 Facebook users landed on the Summer of Sides promotion tab, resulting in a 57% entry rate (higher than industry standards).

The new sweepstakes tactic inviting “Linda” to answer a new question each week resonated very well with the audience. For example:

What is your favorite outdoor mealtime memory?

• The whole family coming over for a BBQ and playing games, watching the kiddos play and chatting with family.”
• “I grew up on a potato farm. My favorite outdoor meal is a raw potato fresh from the field. Harvest occurs in early September on the farm. Therefore, for two weeks in September, as a child, I would make my dad wash and peel a fresh potato for my afterschool snack. Now as an adult, I look forward to September and the sweet buttery taste of a fresh Atlantic potato.”
• “Sitting at the back yard picnic table, eating beans and potato salad, with homemade rhubarb pie for dessert!”

Wrapping up the fiscal year, the USPB Facebook page now has a total of 14,424 likes, which is more than double the total at the end of FY11 (6,723).

Early the morning of June 26, the USPB Public Relations Team uploaded its summer Potato Salad press release onto PR Newswire. By 7:30 pm that night, 238 news outlets, reaching a total of 19 million consumer impressions, had run the story online! Here’s the headline and lead millions of consumers are seeing:

Potatoes Are The #1 Pick for Favorite Healthy BBQ Side Dish

DENVER, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With summer BBQ season underway and the ultimate BBQ holiday just days away, Americans across the country have pronounced potato salad their No. 1 pick among healthy BBQ side dishes. According to a poll on CookingLight.com, potato salad is the favorite healthy summer side, surpassing other traditional sides like coleslaw, pasta salad and baked beans.

Whether you prefer a traditional potato salad or a twist on the traditional, the United States Potato Board (USPB), representing the nation's 2,500 potato growers, has your Fourth of July BBQ potato salad recipe covered.

Each year the USPB Public Relations Team takes advantage of the fact potato salad is the quintessential summer side by promoting healthy and delicious twists on this all-American classic…and media eats it up (pun intendedJ). Here is the full release:

POTATOES ARE THE #1 PICK FOR FAVORITE HEALTHY BBQ SIDE DISH

DENVER, Colo. (June 26, 2012) – With summer BBQ season underway and the ultimate BBQ holiday just days away, Americans across the country have pronounced potato salad their No. 1 pick among healthy BBQ side dishes. According to a poll on CookingLight.com, potato salad is the favorite healthy summer side, surpassing other traditional sides like coleslaw, pasta salad and baked beans.

Whether you prefer a traditional potato salad or a twist on the traditional, the United States Potato Board (USPB), representing the nation’s 2,500 potato growers, has your Fourth of July BBQ potato salad recipe covered.

The USPB’s Quick & Healthy Classic Potato Salad recipe is a healthy spin on the traditional American side dish and is ideal for serving alongside just about any summertime entrée, from chicken and fish to Fourth of July favorites, such as hot dogs and burgers. By using nonfat plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise, this potato salad has just 180 calories and zero fat per serving.

For a twist on the traditional, try the USPB’s Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad with Lemon & Thyme for a salad that is colorful, bursting with citrus flavor and has just a hint of creaminess. This salad, created for the USPB by Laura Bashar of familyspice.com, packs 110 percent of your daily value of vitamin C in just a single serving and 81 milligrams of potassium.

How can something so delicious also be so packed with nutrition? It’s the potato, of course! At just 110 calories, the base of America’s favorite vegetable side dish is packed with essential vitamins and minerals. One medium-size (5.3 ounce) skin-on potato boasts more potassium than a banana and almost half your daily value of vitamin C (45%), and absolutely no fat, sodium or cholesterol.

Visit www.potatogoodness.com for more healthy and creative potato salad recipes, including Greek Potato Salad, Baked Potato Salad and Grilled Pesto Potato Salad. You can also visit our Facebook Fan Page (www.facebook.com/potatoestatersandspuds) to sign-up for our weekly recipe email to receive a new recipe in your email in-box each week.

Attached at the bottom of this story, please find the USPB’s online advertising report, updated for the month of May. The USPB had another strong month of performance, with just one more month to report on for FY12. The final FY12 campaign report will be delivered once the online advertising campaign is complete after the end of June.

Below are the highlights from the month of May:

• Overall, the campaign Click-Thru Rate (CTR) of 0.23% continues to deliver results significantly above the industry standard of 0.10% CTR for flash ads. However, CTR is beginning to fall slightly below FY11 results (0.26% CTR at the end of the campaign), suggesting wear out among users and confirming the decision to implement new creative in the upcoming FY13.
• AllRecipes was the best performer this month, producing an individual site CTR of 0.27% and driving up overall campaign performance. Channel Targeting continued this month, proving to be a success with an average CTR of 0.36%.
• Moving into the summer months, creative rotation was switched to a 33% / 33% / 33% split between Fries, Grilled Potato Salad, and Kabobs. Fries creative continues to be the strongest performer, but only slightly so, as Grilled Potato Salad and Kabobs showed strong numbers. Results support the decision to implement creative that appeals to the summer grilling season.

For questions or additional information on the USPB Online Advertising Campaign, please contact USPB Domestic Marketing Vice President Kathleen Triou at ktriou@uspotatoes.com or 303-873-2312 (direct) / 303-369-7783 (main) / 720-225-0931 (efax).

Potato Board May 2012.xls

On a late summer morning, somewhere deep in potato country, on a remote dirt road straddling two circles, a Chevy and Ford approach from opposite directions, slow down and stop door to door. The dust settles and the windows roll down.

“Mornin’ Bill,” says the driver of the Ford.

“Morning to you, Tom, what’s new today?” says Bill from his Chevy.

“Not much,” Tom answers. “Sun’s up and pivots are spraying. Say, you were out of town not too long ago. Where are you traveling to this time of year?”

“Well, about three weeks ago, I went to the summer meeting for the United States Potato Board,” Bill answers.

“Oh, that’s right; you are one of our USPB Board Members. I remember hearing about it last winter at our meeting.”

“Yep, I’m actually part of what’s called the USPB’s administrative committee, and I work with Industry Communications & Policy.”

“So Bill, what is the latest from the Potato Board? I know it’s about increasing demand for our potatoes and potato products, but how are they improving markets? What are folks saying about potato nutrition?”

“I’m glad you asked, Tom. I can tell you what I heard three weeks ago, or would you rather read and hear what the latest news is coming from the USPB?”

“I’d like to hear the latest, I guess.”

“Good! Pull out that new phone of yours, and I’m going to show you. Go to www.uspotatoes.com. That’s right. Now hit that second blinking ‘NEW!’ sign, and there’s the page that shows you how to get the USPB Industry Communications Smartphone App. It’s available for iPhones, Androids and iPads to help producers stay abreast of industry information in a convenient, easy-to-use format. Here’s the App in the Apple App Store, and it’s also found in the Android Marketplace. Go ahead and load it on your phone. It’s a free App.”

“Well, it’s loaded on my phone, but I’m kind of new to all of this, Bill. How is this App supposed to tell me what the USPB is doing?”

“Tom, that’s exactly what this does. The USPB Smartphone App delivers four items. It delivers the most current US Potato Update radio program on a weekly basis. It delivers the USPB’s Industry Update e-mail newsletter that comes out every other Wednesday. It delivers the most current USPB press releases. Then it has a calendar app called ‘Potato Board Near You’ that is a listing of all the state winter meetings and trade shows that staff and the executive committee will be attending next year.”

“Now I’m going be using this to really keep track of what you and the USPB will be doing.”

“I hope you do, Tom. And after this next year, when my term is over, and I vote for you to take my spot, you can bet I’ll be using this USPB Smartphone App to check-up on you and the USPB, too!”

No matter where you live in the US, you can always hear the “US Potato Update” simply by visiting the “US Potato Update” Archives…

7.4.12—Collaboration Across the Pond.mp3

7.11.12—Convenient-to-Use Smartphone App.mp3

The USPB is pleased to convey this message to the US potato industry from James Borys, Director of Fresh Produce, Feeding America^®:

Nearly 49 million Americans – that’s 1 in 6 – including more than 16 million children, are food insecure, meaning they live at risk of hunger. Feeding America, formerly known as America’s Second Harvest^®, is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, with more than 200 member food banks serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This national network feeds more than 37 million people each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors through approximately 61,000 local agencies. 

Feeding America has made securing more fresh produce a network priority. You can view our fresh produce initiatives through the eyes of two food bank executive directors on YouTube – Matt Habash in Columbus, OH and Terry Shannon in Phoenix, AZ. Terry’s micro documentary highlights fellow farmer Arnott Duncan of Duncan Farms who discusses the importance of sourcing more fresh produce to help feed those Americans at risk of hunger and the role of farmers in helping the Feeding America network meet its goal of distributing one billion pounds of fresh produce by 2015.

One billion pounds is the equivalent of more than 24,000 truckloads. Every year, billions of pounds of domestic production go to waste for any number of reasons. Millions of Americans are food insecure. Can you be a part of Feeding America’s solution?

Potatoes are the #1 produce item in our national network and command the highest demand from our members. We are requesting your assistance to get ever more potatoes into the hands of those who need your nutritious product.

Could you take action and consider the following?

• Do you have wholesome but unsalable product to donate? We appreciate zero-cost donations the most due to the overwhelming need.
• We have a small amount of funding available to help offset some of your out-of-pocket costs associated with your donations, such as picking and packing costs.
• Could you commit to donate at regular intervals, so our agencies can plan programs and nutrition education around your product?
• Learn more about domestic hunger, the Feeding America member food bank nearest you, and get involved today by visiting feedingamerica.org.
• Visit your nearest Feeding America member food bank to learn about opportunities to work together in the fight against hunger. How can we assist you to build and sustain a successful partnership?
• Learn more about fresh produce opportunities and contact James Borys, Director of Fresh Produce, at jborys@feedingamerica.org, phone 312.641.6507.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

James Borys

Director of Fresh Produce, Feeding America

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