Potato Retail Sales Volume Rises in July-September 2024
Potato retail sales volume in the U.S. increased 5.4% between July and September 2024 over the same period the previous year. Fresh potatoes, chips, frozen potatoes, refrigerated potatoes, and deli-prepared sides were among the categories with volume increases of more than 5%. Consumer prices fell 5.3% during the time, but total dollar sales remained steady at USD4.5bn (-0.2%).
Chips recorded the second-largest volume rise (6.5%), after frozen potatoes (6.6%). Only canned potatoes (-5.0%) and instant potatoes (-1.4%), which account for 0.6% and 6% of volume sales, respectively, saw a decline in volume.
Dollar sales of deli-prepared sides (7.3%), refrigerated potatoes (5%), and potato chips (3.2%) also grew. In contrast to fresh potatoes (-8.6%), instant potatoes (-1.5%), and canned potatoes (-2.5%), dollar sales of frozen potatoes remained steady (-0.01%).
Fresh potato volume sales increased by 5.0%. The amount of russet, yellow, tiny, and medley potatoes increased by more than 5%. The volume of russets, which account for 65% of fresh volume sales, increased by 10.6%. Yellow (5.6%), tiny (1.7%), medley (5.1%), and fingerling (5.4%) potatoes saw increases in fresh dollar sales. The average price per pound was USD0.95, representing a 13% decrease in fresh consumer costs overall.
Smaller pack sizes of fresh potatoes (less than 2 pounds and 2-4 pounds) increased in both dollar and volume sales. Five-pound packs, which make up the largest volume share of fresh potato sales, increased (2.0%) but decreased in dollar sales (10.3%). Ten-pound packs also grew in volume sales (7.9%) but fell in dollar sales by 17.2% compared to the same period last year.
