Idaho potato truck returns with a makeover glow
SUN VALLEY, Idaho — The famous Idaho Potato truck is back for the 2017-18 season but it will sport a new feature. It will glow.
The Idaho Potato Commission announced the truck as a central part of its upcoming season’s promotion plans. It will haul a huge fiberglass potato that’s slightly smaller than the current potato. That allows the truck to avoid a “wide load” designation on the highway, and the option to light it from the inside.
“Consumers love the missing truck campaign,” said commission CEO Frank Muir at the Idaho Grower Shipper Association’s annual meeting Aug. 31.
The campaign will start Sept. 22 during the ESPN broadcast of the Boise St. vs. Virginia college football game with a TV commercial featuring the “spudhound” dog. It will mark the 7th year the truck has been in operation, which has accumulated 148,000 miles, Muir said.
Muir outlined a number of other promotions the commission has planned for this season, which will feature a crop on 308,000 acres in Idaho, down about 15,000 from last season.
The commission will continue to sponsor the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl game in December in Boise. Muir said it costs the commission $450,000, but last year a study determined it earned $13.5 million in media exposure, making it a great investment.
The Idahopotatoes.com website received 1.4 million visits last year, up 20% from the previous year, Muir said.
On the non-fresh side, Lamb Weston plans to launch a line of frozen potato products using the “Grown in Idaho” seal that is used on fresh potatoes. Muir said he had been pushing for such a co-branding plan for many years and is excited for the “massive consumer launch” this fall nationwide.
Muir also said the commission is helping growers overcome some of its quality problems of the last few seasons by hosting a Nov. 14 harvest meeting for all Idaho potato growers at the Shoshone-Bannock Casino just north of Pocatello, Idaho.
Muir said the Idaho potato has fought anti-carb diets, french fry potato haters and the local movement and won every time. Now the industry has to fight itself to maintain the high quality level the brand has earned through the years, he said.
