Mashed potatoes in foodservice operations are up 29 percent in the past four years. In Q1 2006, the top 350 chain restaurant menus listed 1,749 mashed potato menu items. In Q1 2010, there were 2,256. This is an important and positive trend for potatoes in foodservice.
"Participants at the 2009 USPB hosted "Menu Innovations with Potatoes" Culinary Seminar have experimented with a wide variety of mashed potato flavors and ideas," said Ashley Kleckner, Senior Account Executive-Integrated Marketing, Ketchum Food B2B. "Some of the exciting attendee innovations were: Hoja Santo Mashed Potato Tamale on a bed of mole, mashed potatoes in a pork and potato roulade and Sofrito mashed potato stuffed Anaheim peppers with lime meringue.
"One exciting mashed potato item created from the USPB Culinary Seminar is actually a smashed potato dish added by Bugaboo Creek Steak House. Smashed is an idea we discussed at the seminar, it's a rustic on-trend version of mashed and is described on the restaurant's website as: Made fresh with red potatoes, smashed by hand, mixed with butter and seasoned with white pepper, kosher salt and chives.
"Many other foodservice operations report adding more dishes with mashed potato sides to their menu, the classics like original, garlic and white cheddar are still big hits."