Foodservice poses challenge for spuds
Fresh potato sales in the foodservice sector are all about ideas, marketers say.
New uses are particularly sought after, said Ross Johnson, global marketing manager with Denver-based Potatoes USA.
"I think one of the most exciting things they found really effective last year was they ran a cooking competition with the California Pizza Kitchen (in Korea)," he said.
Potatoes USA worked with the six South Korean locations of the Los Angeles-based chain in 2015 via an in-house chefs culinary challenge to develop new pizza recipes that include potatoes, Johnson said.
Eight teams of two or three chefs from the chain each submitted recipes for prescreening and preliminary judging.
"They had the chefs submit recipe ideas for California Pizza Kitchen and Potatoes USA sponsored a cook-off," Johnson said, and the winning pizza then was featured on the menu at all locations.
Focusing on chefs is a successful marketing strategy for potatoes, marketers say.
"It's not consumer-directed as much," said Keith Groven, fresh sales manager with Grand Forks, N.D.-based Black Gold Farms.
"When we work in foodservice space, we do what we can with education on the chef and restaurant and recipe creation level. We talk with foodservice partners about trends we're seeing in different parts of the country that might work for them."
It's important to function as a "conduit of information" for chefs and others in foodservice, Groven said.
"When we talk to foodservice, we want to be experts they're relying on to grow the category," he said.
"You've got to get the products on more plates and these are the recipes and venues to get the product on more plates."
Diners are the final judges of how well the ideas work, said Randy Shell, vice president of business development with the Bancroft, Wis.-based Russet Potato Exchange Inc.
"It is critical in foodservice to deliver a great eating experience that will bring consumers back for more of the product," he said.
That means coming up with as many ideas as possible for uses of fresh potatoes, Shell said.
"We continue to see expanded menu offerings beyond french fries in the foodservice potato segment," he said.
Specialty potato varieties present another opportunity in foodservice, said Lara Grossman, organics customer group manager for sourcing for Eden Prairie, Minn.-based C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.'s produce division Robinson Fresh.
"Specialty and bite-sized potatoes provide an opportunity with foodservice," she said.
"Looking at the (quick-service restaurant) category, garlic fries have debuted and this is one way to reinvent a flavor that consumers are comfortable with. The slight tweak to a familiar menu offering can bring about renewed interest and invigorate a menu category."
Cost can be an issue in foodservice, but chefs also look for high-quality potatoes, said Ryan Wahlen, sales manager for Aberdeen, Idaho-based Pleasant Valley Potato Inc.
"I don't know that chefs are concerned about price as they are about the quality - that's the thing we've been trying to focus on the most," he said.
The more use ideas, the better for sales, said Paul Dolan, general manager with Grand Forks-based Associated Potato Growers.
"I think that you need to get the foodservice people to try the product and different ways that they can be prepared and served, otherwise it is just status quo," he said.
