Reps return from New York trade show

State's fries prove a draw at international event

NEW YORK CITY — The only potato booth at a recent New York trade show was pushing Washington spuds.

The Washington State Potato Commission was one of 75 new exhibitors at the 14th annual International Restaurant and Foodservice Show of New York.

The event was held March 4 through March 6 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The commission joined more than 600 other exhibitors to showcase the state's potato products to more than 18,000 industry professionals in attendance.

In a statement, Commission Director of Trade Matt Harris said the "buzz" in New York is trans fat-free, so the commission served fries cooked in trans fat-free oil.

"It was a good show," Harris said. "We were the only potato booth there."

The commission's Trade and Market Access Committee decided to attend this year's event because of increased transportation opportunities to the East Coast with the advent of the RailEx service from Wallula and the Washington Produce Rail Car program.

Harris was supported in the booth by Commissioners Ted Tschirky and Angela Pixton and Commission Assistant Executive Director Karen Bonaudi.

The team distributed information on the varieties and availability of Washington potatoes, recipes and directories of the state's packers, shippers and processors.

The committee plans to review the new event to see if the commission should continue its involvement, Harris said.

"As with all trade shows, we brought back leads," Bonaudi said.

The commission sends out information to prospective leads, and distributes the leads' information to the state's growers, shippers and packers.

One of the positives to come out of the trade show was the variety of participants involved, ranging from chefs to produce brokers to culinary school educators, Bonaudi said.

Being the only potato booth at the international had its perks, she said.

"Everybody knows french fries, but these are the smaller ones, and they were so good and so crispy, people would come by, pick up their little packet, take a bite and you could really see their eyes light up and their eyebrows go up," Bonaudi said. "Like, 'Whoa, these aren't the usual soggy fries I can get on the corner.' They really were a draw."

Fries for the trade show we donated by McCain, NutraClear oil by Dow and fresh potatoes for the display by Washington growers.