A leading local coffee shop chain, Café Bene, with 850 stores nationwide, launched an Italian restaurant chain, Blacksmith. Café Bene is famous for its strong networks with the entertainment industry and has been growing thanks to star marketing and media pitch. The new Italian restaurant chain also had a big media launch event, inviting high-profile celebrities. Blacksmith plans to expand the number of stores to 100 within the next year. With the first store opening, it now carries one US frozen potato menu, Spoon Pizza with wedge potatoes. The United States Potato Board (USPB) Korea office will work closely with this new chain to introduce more US frozen potato menus and possible cooperative activities.

Milk and Honey, a premium bakery chain operated by Shinsegae Group, with 10 stores in the Seoul metropolitan area, recently launched a new bread item, Potato Bread. It uses US frozen wedges for toppings.

As part of the process to allow chipping potatoes to be exported to Japan from Nevada and Montana, as well as allowing growers in other states to use seed potatoes from Montana for product going to Japan, the USPB worked with USDA APHIS to arrange for a visit by an inspector from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in Japan. On the ground support was provided by the State Department’s of Agriculture, the Seed Certification officials and local growers and shippers. USPB and USDA TASC grant funds were used to pay for expenses, including the translator. After one day in each location, the inspector reported he was satisfied and would be submitting a favorable report. It is hoped final approval will occur in time for potatoes to be shipped in January to meet the February opening of the market.

The first “Get Creative” e-newsletter, which was distributed in the fall, is showing traction on potatogoodness.com. Of the over 3,000 chefs and foodservice professionals that received the e-newsletter, 16% have visited the complete landing page on the potatogoodness.com web site. The e-newsletter continues to be promoted through advertising on monkeydish.com and foodservice.com to drive ongoing traffic to the web site between e-newsletter mailings.

The “Many Sides of Potatoes” advertising campaign continues to build momentum in print magazines. In the first half of FY12, there have been a total of 14 ad insertions in nine publications. This generated over 54 million impressions, delivering half of the total print plan.

Ad effectiveness testing demonstrates the success of the campaign. Actions taken scores are 7% higher than the magazine issue average and 29% of readers that recalled the ad said they would purchase potatoes as a result of seeing the ad – this is 13% higher than the magazine average. These scores demonstrate the advertising campaign is successful in inspiring Linda with new potato usage ideas and increasing her consumption of potatoes. We look forward to receiving additional ad effectiveness testing reports in the spring.

The CREST study was conducted in September 2011 and tracks potato consumption trends in foodservice, especially the Quick Service sector.

• Initial findings report total foodservice visits have appeared to stabilize, increasing slightly after significant drops from 2008 to 2010. The turnaround was driven by an increase in Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) visits, while Causal and Midscale visits are still declining.
• Potato orders continue to decline. Both total side dishes and burgers dropped in number of servings (versus YAGO) which impacted potato usage. The drops in potato orders were driven by Midscale and Casual restaurants, as QSRs remained flat. However, because potato servings in QSRs were flat and the QSR segment grew, potatoes lost share in this sector.
• French fries account for 71% of potato servings in foodservice and have been steadily declining, especially in Midscale restaurants. However, fry orders in hamburger QSR restaurants are up 0.7%, driven by McDonald’s, which accounts for 51% of all hamburger category fry orders.

A new year means the start of the 2012 Industry Profile Update. Beginning this week, US potato growers can easily verify or update their USPB profile through the use of technology first introduced last year, including emails, text messages and automated calls. The technology simplifies the process because each grower can review his information and simply make changes where necessary or verify everything is accurate.

Wondering what’s included in your profile? It’s simple: name, telephone numbers, mailing address, email address, potato acreage (from a list of predefined ranges), and potato sectors. All in the name of “Maximizing Return on Your Grower Investment!”

For those of you who joined us at Potato Expo in Orlando and registered to win one of the two iPad PotatoPads™, don’t fret! You won’t be contacted again since you already participated. For those who weren’t at Potato Expo (or didn’t register to win the PotatoPad), please look for an email, text message or automated call from David Fraser, USPB Vice President Industry Communications & Policy requesting 4-5 minutes of your time.

“We’ve made the process easier and more efficient. However, due to the importance of this data, we will still manually call growers who do not participate during the automated portion,” said Fraser.

If avoiding a manual call (or three) isn’t enough of an incentive to participate during the automated phase, perhaps we may tempt your taste buds with a chance to win a PotatoPad smart cover for your iPad 2. Simply participate in January, and you’ll be entered twice! Just log onto Industry Profile Update 2012 to update your USPB profile.

The automated portion is set to begin this week, and the manual calls will follow in early March.

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

12.21.11—Potato Board Conducts Cut-Seed Trials Overseas.mp3

“There’s something for everyone in the potato industry to be had from attending the World Potato ongress (WPC2012) this May in Edinburgh – I can guarantee that,” says Rob Clayton, director of the Potato Council.

Announcing completion of the WPC2012 program content and much of the speaker line-up, Dr Clayton called on all sectors of the potato industry, no matter in which country they are based, to examine the opportunities the triennial congress offered, “It provides a unique opportunity for potato growers, farm input suppliers, scientists and researchers, purchasers and processors, retailers and the food service sector to share information to the benefit of our global industry. They’ll find vital new knowledge not just from Britain, but from potato-growing nations around the world.

“We have speakers from Scotland and England, The Netherlands, China, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA, Australia and Canada, with more still to announce. I can genuinely express the view that THE place to be between May 27 and 30, 2012 is the World Potato Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.”

Based at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in the heart of the city, with industry tours in the area, too, WPC2012 has something for everyone, and everyone will take something away to make a difference to their business. That’s the pledge from Potato Council director Rob Clayton and his organizing team.

“Delegates will also have a good experience away from the congress auditorium and seminars,” says Mike Storey, Potato Council R&D leader. “We’ve arranged international and home-grown speakers for the congress and surrounded that knowledge exchange and seminar participation program with great networking, exhibition and social activities. Delegates can choose from a walking tour in the city, a visit to a distillery, a golf tournament and dinner with friends, partners and colleagues at night; or they can opt for dinner on the Royal Yacht Britannia, a unique experience only available in Edinburgh.”

WPC2012 is set to be an outstanding, world-class event, insists Dr Clayton.

The full program and confirmed speaker list for WPC2012 can be seen at www.wpc2012.net/programme/index.html.

Organizers of the 2012 World Potato Congress (WPC2012) in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 27-30, have released the names of the first 13 commercial sponsors responsible for over £150,000-worth of industry support, for what promises to be a “highly successful, industry-wide event”.

Rob Clayton, director of the Potato Council and WPC2012 organizer, says another three, as yet un-named sponsors have agreed verbally to support the triennial congress, taking sponsorship raised ahead of the May 2012 event to £200,000. Further organizations have started discussions with his sales team, he claims.

“We’re about 75% of the way towards our sponsorship target but still have opportunities for commercial organizations to become involved. The business case for sponsoring the global event is clear for companies keen to put their products and services in front of both British and international delegates,” he says. “Twenty twelve is going to be a big year for the potato industry around the world, not just because scientists have sequenced the potato genome but because environmental, food security and dietary pressures are all rising up the potato agenda as world populations increase.

“At WPC2012 we have big speakers with big opinions talking to delegates representing a big industry. We anticipate a highly successful, industry-wide event with an active take-away action plan resulting for all sectors of the industry. I’m very confident sponsors, speakers and delegates alike will benefit from their participation in what I see as a truly unique event,” he concludes.

WPC2012 commercial sponsors that have signed contracts are: Bayer Crop Science; Albert Bartlett & Sons; Irish Potato Marketing; DuPont; Cygnet Potato Breeders; R.J. Herbert Engineering; Caithness Potato Breeders; Solana; Makhteshim Agan Industries; Transportbandenfabriek E A Broekema; Agraquest; Haith; and Odenberg.

Full details of remaining sponsorship opportunities can be had by emailing nigel@symbiosis.co.uk.

Two top Great Britain potato industry players crossed the Atlantic January 4-6, not just to quiz the US industry on its latest techniques at Potato Expo 2012, but to promote the benefits of attending World Potato Congress 2012 (WPC2012) in Edinburgh, Scotland in May.

Allan Stevenson, chairman of the levy-funded (USPB equivalent) Potato Council and Mark Prentice, Edinburgh-based head of seed and export at the same organization, were Orlando-bound from Scotland to work with World Potato Congress, Inc. directors to encourage industry players to attend the triennial, global event, May 27-30.

With Bayer CropScience as diamond sponsor and over $300,000 of commercial sponsorship already pledged from big names across the industry, not just in agrochemicals, machinery, fresh and processing supply chains, but key international seed enterprises, WPC2012 is on-course to be a truly world-class event. Organizers have already announced a remarkable line-up of international speakers from the USA, Scotland, England, The Netherlands, China, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Canada, with more still to announce. Delegates can expect a business-critical and most enjoyable congress, according to the British ambassadors.

Stevenson, a potato grower and businessman from Scotland, will call on all sectors of the potato industry, no matter in which country they are based, to examine the opportunities the triennial congress offers for industry leaders to come together, “It’s the place to hear and meet big players and to identify big opportunities. WPC2012 provides a unique opportunity for potato growers, farm input suppliers, scientists and researchers, purchasers and processors, retailers and the food service sector to share information to the benefit of our global industry. They’ll find vital new knowledge, not just from Britain, but from potato-growing nations around the world,” he says.

Based at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in the heart of the city, with industry tours in the area, too, WPC2012 has something for everyone, and everyone will take something away to make a difference to their business. That’s the pledge from Canada-based WPC Inc, Potato Council and the event organizing team.

“Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city and seat of the Scottish Parliament, is steeped in history and boasts a stunning, rich architectural heritage, ensuring delegates will have an equally impressive experience away from the congress auditorium and seminars,” says Prentice. “We’ve arranged international and home-grown speakers for the congress and surrounded that knowledge exchange and seminar participation program with great networking, exhibition and social activities.”

Outside the auditorium, delegates and partners can choose from a walking tour in the city, a visit to a whisky distillery, a golf tournament at the 18-hole Archerfield Dirleton Links – just 70 miles from St Andrews, the 600-year-old home of golf – and dinner with friends and colleagues at night; or they can opt for dinner on the Royal Yacht Britannia, a unique British experience only available in Edinburgh. The congress gala dinner – delegates can opt to hire a kilt or wear other traditional dress – will be held in the stunning, newly-renovated National Museum of Scotland.

"The industry interaction tours associated with the congress will give every delegate the chance to visit a selection of growers, breeders, purchasers/processors, retailers and scientific institutions so they can immerse themselves in the Scottish potato industry,” concludes Prentice. “I know everyone will benefit from that interaction.”

WPC2012 is set to be an outstanding, world-class event, insists Stevenson, and we’re looking forward to showing off our industry, sharing our knowledge and learning from visitors from around the world.