Report: US potato sales stable from July 2025 to June 2026

U.S. retail potato sales remained stable during the 12-month period from July 2025 to June 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to new research.

Total retail dollar sales reached $20 billion, with 15.2 billion pounds of potatoes (fresh weight equivalent) sold, according to data compiled by market research and technology company Circana. Total volume declined 0.5%, while the average consumer retail price remained flat at $2.31 per pound.

Sales by category

• Fresh potato volume sales increased 0.2%.
• Deli-prepared potato side dish volume sales increased 1.7%.
• Potato chips, the largest potato category by fresh weight equivalent volume, remained essentially unchanged (-0.003%).
• Refrigerated potatoes declined 2.5%, instant/dehydrated potatoes declined 4.6%, and canned potatoes declined 9.3%.

Fresh breakdown

Fresh potato volume reached 4.79 billion pounds, the highest level recorded during the past five years and the third consecutive year of volume growth. Fresh potatoes account for 34% of total potato volume sales.

Fresh potato dollar sales totaled $4.2 billion, down 1% from the previous year, primarily reflecting a 1.2% decrease in the average retail price per pound.

Purple potatoes posted the largest volume increase (+20.4%), followed by medley (+8.6%), petite (+6.8%) and yellow potatoes (+4.7%). Purple potatoes also led dollar sale growth at +17.5%. White (-15.5%), fingerling (-18.5%) and red (-1.6%) potatoes declined during the period.

Russet potatoes remained the leading fresh potato type, accounting for more than 60% of volume. Yellow potatoes maintained the second-largest share of fresh potato volume at 17%.

Smaller package sizes of fresh potatoes continued to grow, according to the data. Volume sales of 2- to 4-pound bags increased 7.2%, while 1- to 2-pound bags grew 6.2%. The traditional 5-pound bag remained the largest segment, accounting for 53% of fresh potato pack-size volume.

Chips, refrigerated and other types

Chips remained the largest potato category by fresh weight equivalent volume and were essentially unchanged from the prior year. Refrigerated, instant/dehydrated and canned potatoes each posted volume declines during the period.

Deli-prepared potato side dishes, while a small portion of total volume, increased 1.7%.

Downloadable reports are available online on Potatoes USA’s website.