The USPB has been busy educating the bakery and foodservice trade in Mexico about U.S. mashed potatoes. During the Mexipan and Abastur trade shows, the convenience of U.S. instant mashed potato products was showcased by having participants prepare U.S. mashed potatoes for themselves in one, quick, easy step-just mix with water.
This illustrated, first hand, there was no need for washing, peeling, cutting, cooking and mashing; thus saving on labor, water, etc. and improving profitability. The next step was to showcase the versatility of the product where U.S. mashed potatoes were demonstrated in menu items such as empanada filling, pizza topping, croquettes, soup and other localized menu items.
The USPB will be following up with the companies who stopped by the booth and requested additional information, meetings and samples. For those companies interested in purchasing U.S. instant mashed potatoes, trade leads will be sent to the industry.
U.S. dehydrated potato exports reached 21,617 metric tons in the last fiscal year (July 2011-June 2012), up almost 7 percent over the previous year. Educating the trade is a key strategy under the USPB long range plan to increase the demand (grow the pie) for U.S. dehydrated potatoes in foreign markets.
In other USPB news, the Holycow Steakhouse chain in Indonesia has switched from using local fresh potatoes to U.S. frozen fries at its restaurants. The Broaster Fried Chicken chain switched back to U.S. fries from Canada after realizing that quality of the U.S. frozen potatoes is far more superior.