Don't dismantle that big sweet potato display just yet.
The holiday staple that occupied a prime spot during rich, calorie-laden meals over the past couple of months can play an equally important role in your customers' post-New Year's diets as shoppers resolve to eat more healthfully.
“It's the perfect vegetable, especially at the new year when (consumers) are considering having a new diet or lifestyle change,” says Kelly McIver, executive director of the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.
“When people are making New Year's resolutions, they are looking for a sweet potato for sure,” adds Autumn Campbell, sales manager for Matthews Ridgeview Farms, Wynne, Ark.. “Not only are they delicious, they offer you lots of nutrition value.”
Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamin A in the form of beta carotene, vitamins C, B1, B6, manganese, potassium and dietary fiber, and, because they contain simple sugars, they're a good option for diabetics, says Rene Simon, executive director of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission, Baton Rouge.
More than one-third of all shoppers purchased sweet potatoes during the past year, according to The Packer's 2016 Fresh Trends. That figure was even higher — 54% — for consumers age 59 and older.
Annual per capita sweet potato consumption now is 7.5 pounds, says Jason Tucker, president of the U.S. Sweet Potato Council and owner of Tucker Produce, Atwater, Calif.
That's quite a jump from the low of 3.8 pounds in the 1990s, says George Wooten Jr., owner of Wayne E. Bailey Produce Co., Chadbourn, N.C.
Year-round delight
Sweet potatoes used to be primarily a seasonal deal from mid-September to April or May, Wooten says. His company was the first to ship sweet potatoes year-round, starting in the early 1980s, he says.
The winter holiday period still accounts for about 25% of sweet potato sales, but that's down from as much as 50% in the 1970s, he says. Business now is steady the rest of the year, as well.
“We have created markets that are sustainable on a weekly and monthly basis,” Wooten says.
He attributes the increase in the popularity of sweet potatoes in part to their nutritional value, which more and more consumers are discovering, and to the convenience factor.
Most major grower-shippers now go well beyond the traditional 40-pound boxes of bulk potatoes that consumers had to bake or boil and offer an array of consumer packs of microwavable potatoes that can be prepared in minutes.
Today, Wayne E. Bailey offers 3- and 5-pound consumer bags, individual microwaveable sweet potatoes, tray packs of four premium sweet potatoes, 1.5-pound steamer bags that take about 8 minutes to prepare, and its newest product — Petitelings, small sweet potatoes.
After watching competitors experiment with steamable bags for a while, Iota, La.-based Garber Farms plans to launch its own 1.5-pound microwaveable bag by spring, says partner Matt Garber.
“It's a very good convenience item for sweet potatoes,” he says.
Garber, who is president of the Louisiana Sweet Potato commission, also is developing a special 3-pound bag of smaller-sized sweet potatoes that can be boiled along with crawfish to tie in with the commission's second annual Sweeten the Pot promotion.
Microwave magic
Black Gold Farms, Grand Forks, N.D., also has introduced a 1.5-pound microwaveable bag of four to six potatoes as well as a 3-pound mesh bag of sweet potatoes, says Joe Millman, director of sweet potato operations. Both use smaller, baker-profile potatoes.
But the 40-pound box remains the firm's biggest mover.
Nash Produce LLC, Nashville, N.C., increased acreage for organic and some varietals, like murasaki and bonita, says Laura Hearn, marketing and business development director.
“Consumers are very interested in trying different varieties of products they already love,” Hearn says.
Organic sweet potatoes are top of mind at Matthews Ridgeview Farms. The company launched its first organic crop this year, albeit a small one to start out with, Campbell says.
“We want to grow as the industry does and meet our customers' demands,” she says.
Organic sweet potatoes are available in a 3-pound bag under the company's familiar Fifth Generation label.
The firm also has been growing the white-flesh bonita variety for a couple of years.
It's available in bulk and in an 18-count 2-pound bag that helps assure the correct ring at checkout, she says. Price Look-Up stickers are available for the bulk product.
For the second year, Matthews Ridgeview Farms will partner with N&W Farm Produce Inc., Vardaman, Miss., on its Riverboat steamers, a 24-ounce bag of five or six petite sweet potatoes that can be prepared in a microwave in 6 to 8 minutes.
“People seem to love those for their convenience,” she says.
Sweet potato toast
The social media craze has spawned a host of innovative uses for sweet potatoes, says Sarah Alvernaz, general manager of California Sweet Potato Growers, Livingston, Calif., and a member of the marketing subcommittee of the Livingston, Calif.-based Sweet Potato Council of California.
One of the biggest trends during the fall was sweet potato toast.
“It's something that's gotten millions of ‘shares' and a lot of buzz,” she says.
Cut a sweet potato into quarter-inch slices and drop them into the toaster or toaster oven and embellish them with any of a variety of toppings.
The California council offers three suggestions on its website — casweetpotatoes.com: Sweetpotato Toast with Avocado, Poached Egg, and Sriracha; Sweetpotato Toast with Cream Cheese, Maple Syrup, and Dates; and Sweetpotato and Tomato Bruschetta.
“They're very California,” she says, “very fresh, healthy and easy.”