Potato retail sales see positive volume, dollar sales growth

U.S. retail sales of potatoes increased by both volume and dollar sales from July 2023 to June 2024.

Volume sales increased by 1.3%, and dollar sales for the year increased by 4.6% to $18.3 billion, according to data compiled from Circana and published in a news release from Potatoes USA.

Fresh potatoes saw volume sales increase (2.2%), and potato chips (0.2%), the release said. Frozen potatoes remained steady with a slight 0.02% volume decrease. The largest volume increase was in deli-prepared sides (5.4%), though it represents 6% of overall sales.

Retail dollar sales increased for all potato types except fresh, the release said. The most significant increases were in frozen (14.6%) and dehydrated (8.9%) potatoes. Dollar sales of fresh potatoes remained steady, dropping 1% and remaining over $4.2 billion, according to data from Circana.

Yellow potato dollar sales increased 4.9%, along with petite (0.2%), medley (5%), and fingerling (3.4%). Dollar sales of russets decreased by 0.8%, along with reds (-7.5%), whites (-8.5%), and purples (-10.9%), according to the data.

Retail prices increased 3.3% to $2.37 per pound for all potatoes in July 2023–June 2024, slowing down from the 19.8% growth seen last year. Fresh potato prices also decreased by 3.2% to $0.96 per pound. These metrics indicate potatoes still offer strong value for consumers and the opportunity to drive more volume for retailers, the release said.

Volume sales grew for all fresh potato pack sizes except packs greater than 10 pounds, the release said. Dollar sales for fresh potato pack sizes less than 2 pounds grew 4.7%, while dollar sales for 2- to 4-pound packs grew 1.5% and dollar sales of 8-pound packs grew 7%. Dollar sales decreased for 5-pound packs (-2.1%), 10-pound packs (-6.6%) and packs greater than 10 pounds (-36.4%).