The steady creep of potato prices has hit a five-year high, according to recent data from IRI. Reaching an average price per pound of $2.35 in the last quarter, the price of potatoes has consistently increased each year since 2018, which saw an average price of $1.79.
This, however, doesn’t appear to be dissuading consumers from picking up potatoes during their grocery runs.
According to the IRI Unify Retail Sales data, potato volume sales remain above pre-pandemic levels. Despite price increases, volume sales only dipped slightly — a 2.1% decrease from July to September 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, according to the data.
Additionally, retail sales increased in dollar sales by 17.8% from July to September 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
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All categories of potatoes — with the notable exception of deli-prepared sides — increased in dollar sales, according to IRI data. Frozen potatoes led the category, having the biggest rise in dollar sales with a 22.8% increase year-over-year.
Fresh potato sales are up for all types of potatoes with the exception of fingerling and purple varieties, due to tight supply.
The pack sizes that saw the greatest increase in dollars were the 5-pound and 10-pound potato packs, increasing by 29.4% and 29.3%, respectively.
