Partnership aims to drive summer potato sales

A new partnership between Potatoes USA and the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) will identify ways to drive summer potato sales through marketing best practices.

Targeted strategies will aim to increase demand for potatoes in grocery outlets while providing independent grocers marketing resources to help meet consumer needs and preferences, according to a news release.

An Information Resources Inc. product affinity study found that grocery stores bring in an average of $90.50 per basket when potatoes are purchased as opposed to $47.47 for baskets without the vegetable.

Potatoes also account for more than 10% of all vegetable sales, with 80% of Americans purchasing spuds weekly at the store, according to the release.

IGA, with aggregate annual worldwide retail sales of more than $43 billion, includes more than 6,300 stores with operations in 46 U.S. states and more than 25 countries.