Potato promotion campaign has been pivotal in increase in sales

THERE was a strong attendance at the National Potato Conference last Tuesday in the Red Cow Hotel, Dublin.

Attendees heard about current positive trends in consumption and were presented with a review of the very successful potato promotion campaign featuring ‘Bud the Spud’ with the logo ‘More than a bit on the side’.

Speaking at the conference Minister of State Andrew Doyle outlined how the current potato promotion campaign ‘ has been pivotal in reversing the decline in potato consumption’. The Minister also encouraged the industry to invest and build on this success by applying for a further EU:Industry co-funded potato promotion campaign.

Minister Doyle also praised the ‘progress that has been made in terms of diversification and import substitu- tion through the salad potato research programme’. Citing the potential for further import substitution and the risks posed by Brexit, the Minister said he also very much welcomed the initial moves that have been made regarding developing Irish production for the fresh chip trade.

Over a prolonged period, there was a steady decline in Irish household potato purchases. This was due to com- bination of factors including changing lifestyle trends as well a perception that potatoes were fattening and inconvenient. This has been reversed by the ‘More than a bit on the side’ campaign, which is being run jointly by Ireland and the UK and was co-funded by the European Commission, Industry and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Based on Kantar data, Irish house- hold fresh potato purchases have moved from 175,000 tonnes per annum in 2015 when the promotion campaign started to a situation where the market has now stabilised at around 210,000 tonnes per annum.

The campaign is due to conclude in July and Bord Bia is actively exploring options for a further campaign to build on its success and avail of further EU funding opportunities into the future.