Potatoes USA gets $5.2 million funding bump from USDA’s foreign ag service

Due to the success of implementing and reporting on marketing activities in previous years, Potatoes USA’s Market Access Program (MAP) funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) increased for the 2022-2023 marketing year.

Potatoes USA received $5,242,949 in new MAP funding for the coming marketing year. This, combined with additional funding from other FAS programs such as the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) and the Quality Samples Program (QSP), will allow promotional efforts in target markets to have an even greater impact.

This funding from the USDA’s Market Access Program will be utilized in 15 targeted international markets, including one new market to the MAP portfolio: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. After seeing great progress made in the GCC region through the ATP program, the market was added to Potatoes USA’s Unified Export Strategy as an official target market for 2022-23.

MAP funding will support the foodservice, retail, consumer, seed potato, and market access programs in these markets. These programs all work toward the overarching goal of strengthening the demand for U.S. potatoes. Marketing activities funded by MAP include foodservice and retail promotions, education and technical training for the trade, menu development work, trade merchandising, U.S. potato recipe development, nutrition education for consumers and more.

These activities have had great impacts, which contributed to USDA’s decision to increase funding. Here are just a few of the results of these programs in the last marketing year (2020-2021):

• Thirty-seven volume-driving foodservice operators switched to using 100% U.S. potatoes.
• More than 130 new U.S. potato menu items were launched at foodservice operations.
• Over 100 young chef trainings on U.S. potatoes were implemented.
• Sixty-one new U.S. potato products became available at top retail chains.
• Promotions led to increased sales of U.S. potatoes at retail.
• More than 140 U.S. potato recipes were developed for international consumers.

The linked press release outlines the overall MAP allocations made by FAS. According to a study in 2016, MAP provides $28 in export gains per $1 spent by the government and industry on international market development, and with potato exports accounting for approximately 20% of the U.S.’ production, this funding can lead to significant benefits for the industry.

Potatoes USA looks forward to utilizing this funding in the upcoming marketing year to continue increasing exports and market share for U.S. potatoes.

— Potatoes USA