Resurgence in potato consumption

Inspecting a crop of Cultra potatoes near Rathfriland in Co Down earlier this week, left to right : Wilson’s Country agronomist Stuart Meredith in the company of growers Jonny Moore and his father Alistair. Weather permitting, the ‘spuds’ will be harvested at the end of September.

All the sector’s key parameters: including frequency of purchase and volumes purchased per retail visit are all up with one very obvious exception.

Wilson’s Country managing director Lewis Cunningham takes up the story: “The average price of potatoes in the shops has fallen over the past 12 months.

“The Kantar survey confirms an average price per kilo of 82p for the 52 week period ending June 30th 2020. This represents a 4.2% reduction on the previous 12 months.”

Potato sales in Northern Ireland for the past year totalled £50.83m, representing a 3.9% increase on the previous 12 months. Sales volumes increased by 8.5% during the same, period, exceeding 60,000t.

Lewis Cunningham again: “Individual purchase volumes increased by 6.4% over the past year totalling 85.4kg. Potatoes now enjoy a 97.6% retail penetration in Northern Ireland. That’s up 1.4% on 2019 levels.”

He continued: “All of these trends point to a very positive story for the local potato sector. They also confirm the growing consumption of potatoes in homes.

“Significantly, these trends became apparent before the introduction of the Covid-19 lockdown.

“We saw the expected, seasonal boost in potato consumption at Christmas time 2019. However, this momentum was maintained into the New Year. There’s also little doubt that the lockdown measures have encouraged more people to cook at home more frequently, across the board.”

Lewis went on to point out that, when included as part of a balanced diet, potatoes are an excellent source of energy and nutrition.

He said: “This is evident from a recent USA survey, which states that 73% of nutritional influencers see the potential benefits that potatoes offer to athletic performance”

The Wilson’s Country representative pointed to the significant investment made by local packers over recent years in making fresh potatoes a more convenient and flexible cooking option.

He believes that this commitment has played a very real part in helping to boost consumption levels.

He explained: “Smaller pack sizes mean less waste in homes. We are also seeing a growing demand for peeled, chilled potatoes and fresh chips. In our own case branded retail sales have increased by 19.6% year-on-year.”

But it’s not all good news for the potato industry.

“The lockdown measures almost wiped out potato sales into the service and catering sectors. And it’s doubtful if we will see demand from these industries fully recover anytime soon,” Lewis Cunningham explained.

“The eat-out to help-out scheme, launched a few days ago, has already resulted in an increase in orders to us and is a really welcome development.”

He concluded: “Potato sales have fared well over the past 12 months. It is to be hoped that the trend towards more people cooking more often at home will be maintained.

“However, potato packers are taking nothing for granted. There is an onus on companies like Wilson’s Country to continue investing in new ways of making fresh potatoes more attractive to consumers across the board.”

For more information, contact Lewis Cunningham on 07770 655642.