Spud sales volume down but values up in 2022
Varieties of potatoes on display at the Potato Variety Management Institute’s booth at the 2023 Washington-Oregon Potato conference in Kennewick in late January. While overall U.S. potato sales fell slightly in 2022 compared with 2021, the value of those sales rose more than 14%, according to a new report on annual potato sales from PotatoesUSA.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
DENVER — While the overall volume of U.S. potato sales fell slightly in 2022 when compared with 2021, the value of those same sales rose 14.4% to $15.5 billion, according to data published by Colorado-based PotatoesUSA, a marketing organization of U.S. potato growers.
Frozen potato products posted the biggest gain in value, rising 17.9% to $2.3 billion in 2022 over the previous year despite seeing total sales decline nearly 3% in the same period, the organization revealed in its year-end analysis of potato sales for 2022. Among processed potato products, potato chips were the biggest, generating sales of nearly $7.7 billion, up 14.8%, despite posting an overall decline in sales of 1.2% from 2021, the report said.
Among processed potato products, deli-prepared side dishes posted the biggest decline in sales in 2022, falling 6.6% from 2021. However, despite that decline, the value of deli-prepared sides rose a slight 0.3% in 2022 to $354 million, the report said.
The value of sales of fresh potatoes saw an overall increase in 2022 of 15.2% despite seeing an overall decline in volume of 1.2%, the report said. Nearly all varieties of fresh potatoes saw sales volumes decline in 2022, though the volume of yellow potato sales rose 8.5% and the value of those sales rose 23.8% to $613 million. Russetts continued to be the biggest seller in 2022, the report said, posting total sales of $1.9 billion despite seeing overall sales volume fall 1.3%, the report said.
Purple potato sales declined significantly in 2022, the report said, with volumes falling 31.6% and total sales falling 20.8% to $2.3 million.
According to the report, the average price Americans paid for a pound of potatoes in 2022 was around $2.15, though prices were about 20 cents per pound higher from July-September.
“Amidst the price increases, consumers still find potatoes to be an affordable product as dollar sales have continued to grow, and the volume of potatoes consumers purchase remains above levels in 2019,” the report said.