North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission says retail efforts bear fruit

The North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission reports a smaller annual yield, down 20% to 30%, following a challenging growing and harvest season. On the heels of Thanksgiving, where sweetpotatoes play a prominent role, the commission reports acreage is slightly up.

North Carolina plays a vital role in the holiday, growing more than 60% of the country’s sweetpotatoes.

The commission said these changes in production and acreage are not uncommon, with volume movement both up and down in the past 10-plus years due to weather conditions, global markets, rising input costs, labor challenges and more.

“2023 and 2024 have proven to be challenging years for agriculture in North Carolina that have forced sweetpotato growers to make hard decisions to stabilize our industry,” Michelle Grainger, executive director of the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, said in a news release. “It isn’t any one factor causing these changes, or even market demand, as much a change in global markets and unpredictable weather events, but like every farmer, optimism remains, and our industry is making forward-looking investments in consumer research and retail programming to drive sales.”

The commission said it recently completed three retail pilot programs testing a variety of marketing strategies to promote sweetpotatoes outside of the seasonal holiday window. Programs included digital promotions, nutrition programming, produce manager education and in-store POS. The commission said this pilot program netted double-digit sales movement and it was part of a larger nine-month sales development program.

“While our supply may be reduced, our promotional efforts will not slow down. We are proud of the high quality sweetpotatoes we produce and stand behind the quality of our products and production practices that have made us the industry leader,” Rob Hill, president of the NCSC board of directors and co-owner of Tull Hill Farms, said in the release. “I believe these investments in retail programs and forward-looking marketing are proof that the NCSC and [North Carolina] sweetpotato growers stand ready to build a more sustainable industry and support continued education and consumption efforts that will help us develop better relationships and continued transparency in our supply chain so everyone can win.”