DENVER — The United States Potato Board (USPB) presented US instant mashed potato products to Mexican bakery and foodservice trade at the EXPHOTEL Cancún Mexipan and Abastur tradeshows.
EXPHOTEL is an international show of suppliers to the hotel, restaurant, bar and club industries in Latin America. This hospitality industry trade show has over 6,000 attendees looking to make connections, discover new products and services and develop commercial relationships with executives in the industry.
Participation in EXPHOTEL Cancún in June 2012 created brand new business for US dehydrated potato exports. USPB participated in the trade show with a booth and presentation featuring US instant mashed potatoes for foodservice applications. Through chef demonstrations and educational materials, USPB demonstrated the versatility of mashed potatoes for this industry. Visitors carried out rehydration tests with small samples of US mashed potato mixes to prove how easy it is to rehydrate these products. After the show, 18 hotels requested and were provided technical information on using US dehy products.
As a result, 10 hotels—including major resort hotels in Cancún such as the Hyatt Regency, Marriott and Fiesta Americana—became new US customers of instant mashed potatoes, utilizing these products mainly in buffet menus as a side dish, but also in other applications such as baked goods and as a thickener for soups and salads. These new customers account for close to 1 MT in US dehy usage a month. Although the quantity is small now, this represents net new business in a new channel for US dehy which opens up new opportunities for growth long term.
Mexipan is the second most visited Bakery Expo in Latin America. With more than 200 exhibitors and 27,000 visitors from Mexico and 40 countries, Mexipan 2012 had a great impact in the baking industry for the professionals visiting this tradeshow in Mexico City.
Abastur is a hotel and catering exhibition for the food and beverage industry also held in Mexico City. Each year, this show attracts thousands of exhibitors and industry professionals from Mexico and from other countries.
At these two trade shows, the convenience of US instant mashed potato products was showcased. Show attendees sampled and prepared US mashed potatoes for themselves in one, quick, easy step—just mix with water. This first-hand experience showed there was no need for washing, peeling, cutting, cooking and mashing.
“Eliminating these steps saves on labor, water, equipment and energy,” said TK Kuwahara, USPB International Marketing Manager-Dehy. “The next step was to demonstrate the versatility of the US instant mashed potato products with menu items such as empanada fillings, pizza toppings, croquettes, soups and other local cuisines.”
The USPB will follow up with the companies who stopped by the booths at these tradeshows, and requested additional information, meetings and samples. Companies interested in purchasing US instant mashed potatoes will be referred as trade leads to the US dehy industry.
US dehydrated potato exports reached 21,617 metric tons in the last fiscal year (July 2011–June 2012), up almost 7 percent over the previous year. Educating the trade is a key strategy under the USPB long range plan to increase demand for US dehydrated potatoes in foreign markets.
For more information, please visit the USPB International Dehy program online.
For more information on the USPB as the nation’s potato marketing organization, positioned as the “catalyst for positive change,” and the central organizing force in implementing programs that will increase demand for potatoes, please visit www.uspotatoes.com.
David Fairbourn is Manager, Industry Communications & Policy, at the United States Potato Board in Denver. The mission of the USPB is to increase demand for potatoes and potato products through an integrated promotion program, thereby providing US producers with expanding markets for their production. David can be contacted at 303-369-7783 or david.fairbourn@uspotatoes.com. For complete information about the programs, ROI results, resources and tools available to all members of the industry through the USPB, please visit www.uspotatoes.com. The United States Potato Board—Maximizing Return on Grower Investment.
Source: United States Potato Board