When it comes to exports, the sweetpotato industry has made some significant gains over the past decade.
In 2024, growers sent 21% of their sweetpotatoes to buyers outside the U.S., says Jerry Hingle, international program consultant for the Benson, N.C.-based American Sweet Potato Marketing Institute (ASPMI). Ten years ago, that figure was about 8%.
Canada is the No. 1 market for U.S. sweetpotatoes, followed by the United Kingdom as well as some European nations, such as Germany and the Benelux region, says Jeff Smutny, ASPMI’s executive director.
However, shipments to Europe have dipped into the “low two-digits” over the past couple of years, Hingle says.
“The sole reason is Egypt,” he says. “Egypt’s exports to the European Union and the United Kingdom are up tremendously, and we’re taking it on the chin.”
Egyptian growers were able to secure seed for the same sweetpotato varieties as those grown in the U.S., Smutny says.
Growing operations are government subsidized, sellers can take advantage of a favorable currency exchange rate, and Egyptian growers have a location advantage — Egypt is much closer to Europe than the U.S. is — Smutny says.
Rise in Mexico
While exports to Europe might be down, Mexico is an up-and-coming market.
“Mexico is a new market for us solely because of the work we’ve done,” Hingle says. “Mexico now ranks among the top five markets. It was not even on our radar screens five years ago.”
And the market continues to grow.
ASPMI has worked with importers in Mexico, attended trade shows there and has conducted abundant sampling in Mexico’s largest retail chains, Smutny says. In fact, 160 samplings were conducted in the past six to seven months.
The favorable reputation of U.S.-grown sweetpotatoes was largely developed through the marketing efforts of ASPMI, Hingle says.
“We invest heavily in promoting sweetpotatoes around the world,” Hingle says, especially by touting their nutritional value and quality.
ASPMI promotions also stress the growing practices used by U.S. producers, the safety regulations they abide by and growers’ emphasis on sustainability, Smutny adds.
Marketing Revamped
Smutny assumed his leadership position last year and says one of his first tasks was to review the institute’s marketing activities.
“We decided to make a more retail-focused approach,” he says, since consumer outreach is expensive and ASPMI has a small budget, supported by USDA funding. “We have to use it sparingly.”
The institute replaced some of its marketing firms overseas.
“We just signed on with a more nutritionally focused firm in Europe,” Smutny explains.
ASPMI works directly with importers and grocery store chains worldwide, conducts in-store sampling and strives to educate consumers at point of purchase by providing recipe ideas, sharing handling and storage practices and explaining how flexible sweetpotatoes are.
“You can use them for baking anything from brownies to just having sweetpotatoes themselves,” he says.
As for varietal preferences, consumers in other countries lean toward varieties like beauregard and other moist-flesh potatoes similar to those U.S. shoppers, Hingle says. However, purple sweetpotatoes are often the preference of Chinese and Japanese consumers, Smutny adds.
Tariff Talk
While tariffs can be a moving target, they have not yet had much of an impact on sweetpotato movement, Hingle sys.
Fortunately, there are no tariffs on sweetpotatoes produced in North America that are sold to buyers in Canada or Mexico thanks to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, he says.
