Latest News From Sweet Potato Marketing

U.S. sweet potato area harvested in 2021 totaled 152,700 acres (data collected only in California, Mississippi and North Carolina), off just 2% from 155,300 acres in 2020 and 4% higher than 146,700 acres in 2019.

Wynne, Ark.-based Matthews Ridgeview Farms is growing and has no plans to slow down, said Autumn Campbell, sales manager, speaking at the SEPC Southern Exposure expo in early March.

One in three people surveyed in The Packer's 2022 Fresh Trends report said they purchased fresh sweet potatoes in the past 12 months.

The Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission is celebrating its 70-year anniversary in 2022, a milestone that doesn’t even tell the complete story of the roots of sweet potatoes in the state.

The North Carolina SweetPotato Commission is celebrating 60 years and a big part of that celebration has come from RFD TV’s Chip Carter’s new TV series called “Where the Food Comes From.”

Nash Produce is well-positioned to manage sweet potato demand for the balance of the season, said Thomas Joyner, president of Nash Produce, Nashville, N.C. 

Country Sweet Produce’s Bako Sweet sweet potatoes are now certified by the American Heart Association just in time to celebrate American Heart Month and National Sweet Potato Month..

Sweet potatoes were already doing well lately, and after a crazy 2020, consumers want them even more, according to The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2021 consumer survey.

Pandemic or not, sweet potato marketers expect a boost from spring holidays such as Easter.

A lot has happened in the sweet potato industry recently. Catch up here on the latest sweet potato news brought to you by The Packer.

The single-serving, plastic-wrapped microwavable sweet potato isn’t so hot these days, as the discussion about sustainable packaging gets louder.

Demand for the traditional orange-fleshed sweet potato during holiday dinners may be a constant, but disruption is creeping into this category.

Sweet potatoes are a popular vegetable among U.S. shoppers, with female, white and high-income consumers among the most frequent purchasers.

Ube. Ube. Ube.

The balance of Louisiana sweet potatoes going to fresh versus processed could be changing.

Sweet potatoes continue to find an eager audience in foreign markets.

Sweet potato grower-shippers continue to see strong demand for their product but even greater volume to meet that demand.

Business updates on companies featured in The Packer's Sweet Potatoes Marketing section.