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| HEADLINES (Click on headline for full story): | May 04 , 2007 |
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KOREA–US FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US POTATO INDUSTRY On May 1, 2007, the US potato industry learned the details of the US–Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for US potatoes. The agreement, if implemented, will provide excellent opportunities for the US potato sector noted as follows:
While not granting complete or immediate access for all US potato products, the agreement is still very favorable considering potatoes were listed among the most sensitive agricultural priorities by the Korean government, along with rice, beef and citrus. The United States Potato Board (USPB) and the National Potato Council (NPC) staff, along with their contracted market access firm of Bryant Christie, Inc., worked very closely with negotiators from the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fashion this deal from the minimal access initially proposed by the Korean government. These efforts included middle of the night phone conversations and emails as the talks reached their feverish conclusion in the final days of March. The agreement must still be approved by the legislative bodies in both countries where it faces stiff opposition. Implementation of the agreement is not anticipated prior to 2009. In 2006 the US shipped 30,422 MT of frozen potatoes to Korea, valued at over $23 million. Fresh potato exports reached 2,886 MT valued at $702,749, while dehy exports were 3,679 MT valued at $9,807,982. The increased access in the FTA will allow all of these sectors to grow substantially, particularly dehy, which has faced severe restrictions. Additionally, the US will now have distinct tariff advantages over its competitors. It is important, however, the agreement be put in place because Canada, Australia and others are also seeking FTAs with Korea, which if put in place first, could dramatically reduce US exports to this market, currently ranked fifth for all US potato exports. The National Potato Council will be working to secure passage of the Korea–US FTA and the NPC encourages all US potato growers and grower associations to do so as well. |
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USPB REPRESENTATIVES STUDY POTATO PRODUCTION, PROCESSING AND USAGE IN CHINA
As part of a large scale research study to determine if China will remain an important market for US potato products, become a major competitor or both, a team from the USPB spent two weeks touring potato areas in northern China. The team included two International Marketing Committee members, Lon Baley from Oregon and David Radtke from Colorado; staff members Susan Weller and John Toaspern and Daniel Chen, the USPB Representative in China. The group was also joined by Krista Dickson from the Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, DC, and Jiang Junyang from the US Agricultural Affairs Office in Beijing. Information from this tour will be utilized in the final study to be completed and released to the industry by the end of June, 2007. After arriving in Beijing, the group traveled to Inner Mongolia to view some newly established, large scale production, put in place to supply processing potatoes to fry and chipping plants elsewhere in China. They also toured the largest dehy and potato starch plants in China. From there the group flew to Harbin in the far north of China to meet with employees from McCain’s and speak with the potato growers association for that region. Next, the USPB-led contingent then flew south to Shandong, the “California of China”. This temperate area, with fertile soil from the Yellow River Delta, is one of the most productive in China. Potato harvests were just getting underway on the ¼ acre plots, as corn was being planted between the rows, so that it could be harvested in time for the planting of the fall potato crop. The group finished this intensive tour in Beijing with meetings at the PepsiCo and Simplot plants. |
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DEHY SEMINARS FOR JAPANESE BAKERS CONTINUE TO PRODUCE RESULTS The 6th and 7th baking seminars, conducted in conjunction with the California Walnut Commission, were held in Japan during March. Ecole De Patisserie De Tokyo was the first with 44 participants from the bakery industry. The next seminar was hosted at the YMCA International Confectionary School in Sendai, with 29 participants. Both seminars featured Tomoharu Mori, an owner/chef at Boulangerie Lebois, who gave a lecture on 10 bread recipes. Six of these utilize potato flakes, as well as dices and shreds. There were also taste testing opportunities of dehy mash and shreds and an explanation of the nutritional benefits of these products. At the conclusion of the seminars, 30 people had requested samples of dehy. |
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PROCESSORS HELP USPB PROMOTE DEHYDRATED POTATOES AT USDA/USAID INTERNATIONAL FOOD AID CONFERENCE, “PARTNERING TO END HUNGER & POVERTY” Once a year the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) host a conference dedicated to US government international food aid programs. The 2007 International Food Aid Conference (IFAC) had a total of 696 registered participants from all aspects of the food aid community, including Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) that receive and distribute the food; the companies that produce some of the more specialized foods used in food aid programs; the commodity organizations, such as the USPB representing growers; the steamship lines and others involved in transportation; the countries that receive the food; the many agencies of USDA and USAID involved in programming and purchasing the food; the World Food Program, the United Nations agency involved in food aid distribution; and, of course, the myriad of contractors assisting with this entire process. For the first time ever, processors joined the United States Potato Board (USPB) in representing the US potato industry. Jon Schodde of Idaho Pacific, Art Polson & RJ Andrus of Idaho Supreme and Julian Awdry, RDO Foods, attended the conference to learn about food aid, and more importantly, promote dehydrated potatoes. USPB was represented by International Marketing Committee Co-Chair and Oklahoma grower Virgil Slagell, USPB staff John Toaspern and Dinah Tobey and nutritionist Evalyn Carbrey. Despite huge gains made in agricultural production over the last 30 years, there are still over 850 million people worldwide that are hungry and under nourished. According to the UN World Food Program, 25,000 people die every day from malnutrition. The United States government provides over half of the world’s total food aid assistance, with $1.5 billion going to US government operated programs, and a cash contribution of $1.2 billion to the World Food Program. The US government provides food assistance through a number of different programs, most of which fall under PL480, adopted in 1949 and designed to feed the world’s poor with the bounty of US agriculture. Currently the majority, worth over $1 billion, of the food aid goes through Title II Emergency and Non-Emergency feeding programs administered by USAID. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service administers the much smaller Food for Progress and Food for Education programs. The USDA Farm Services Agency procures and arranges shipment of all food under these programs out of their offices in Kansas City. In 2001 the USPB, in coordination with the state potato organizations and National Potato Council, launched the International Food Aid Initiative (IFAI) to try to get dehydrated potatoes into these programs. With the programs initially built and still utilizing surplus commodities purchased by the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation through the various support programs for bulk commodities, introducing a high value product like dehy was a very difficult task. However, the IFAI has been successful, and dehy has been purchased under all three programs. In addition to the demonstration projects carried out in the field with the PVOs and the training conducted in Idaho for PVO employees, USPB and US potato industry attendance at the IFAC and other meetings is an important means of increasing awareness and understanding of dehy and its fit into food aid programs. Potatoes had the largest presence of any commodity at the conference. Idaho Pacific, Idaho Supreme and RDO Foods all had samples of dehy flakes and granules conference participants could sample at their tables, complete with add-ins such as spinach, bananas, dried fish and ground nuts that could be mixed with the dehy to provide an example of how dehy may be used in the field. Posters and displays with pictures from around the world showing dehy being utilized in numerous different food aid settings adorned the potato tables, giving a uniform look to the USPB and processor exhibit area. Product samples and promotional materials were available for people to take home. During breaks in the conference sessions, PVO and US government employees and others attending the conference came to the display to learn about dehy and discuss future collaborations. The participating processors all felt it was a worthwhile experience and were impressed with the USPB’s efforts through the IFAI, especially given the many hurdles faced by their product. “I was very glad to get a chance to participate in the conference, as our company has been awarded some of the food aid contracts, but I did not really understand what food aid was all about,” stated Jon Schodde of Idaho Pacific. “Now, when we produce flakes for Jamaica or Senegal, I will have a better understanding of the types of programs they will be used for.” For Julian Awdry, RDO Foods, the collaboration with the Board greatly improved the potato message. “When speaking to someone from a PVO, I could explain about our products, but then Evalyn (Carbrey) could further explain how they worked in the demonstration projects and the nutritional benefits of dehy, while John (Toaspern) could arrange for follow-up meetings with the USPB to discuss technical assistance available to PVOs that include dehy in their programs.” Unfortunately, even though the US potato industry thinks dehy is the perfect food for food aid, many substantial challenges remain to increasing its use. First, more and more food aid is being used for emergency settings such as the Tsunami relief or aftermath of the Israeli incursion into Lebanon. To date, dehy has not been utilized in emergency settings. Given the vulnerability of the people involved in emergencies, the government is reluctant to try new commodities in these settings. Additionally, the majority of the non-emergency food provided under these programs is actually sold in the foreign country through a process known as monetization; the proceeds from the sale of the commodity are then used for development projects designed to increase food supplies in the country and improve the most vulnerable populations’ health and sanitation. Dehy does not have a commercial market in these countries, so it cannot be utilized in these monetization programs. “I had no idea food aid was not all fed to people,” commented Art Polson, Idaho Supreme, “but now I understand some of the challenges we face. Still though, the benefits of dehy, from nutritional components, to the rehydration rate of 6–1, which cuts down on shipping, storage and handling costs; plus the ease of preparation and lack of fuel required; makes it so that it meets some of the issues I heard discussed at the conference.” RJ Andrus, also of Idaho Supreme, continued “There was a great deal of discussion about HIV patients and severely malnourished children, all of whom have compromised digestive systems and can’t handle or benefit from some of the traditional food aid commodities. The ironic thing is that some of the attributes of potatoes that people complain about in this country, such as its high Glycemic Index, make it perfect for food aid.” Virgil Slagell, USPB International Marketing Committee Co-Chair and Oklahoma grower, finished the thought, “In talking with one of the PVOs that has used dehy in Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, they were so pleased with the effect that dehy has on starving people: it provides immediate energy and calories, plus many vitamins and nutrients that allow the patients to better absorb proteins and minerals from other foods eaten along with it.” Hopefully this show of force by the US potato industry will allow the food aid programs to overcome shrinking budgets, increased costs, misconceptions and biases to help the US government feed the millions of starving people with the perfect food: US potatoes.
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| USPB “HEALTHY POTATO” SEMINARS GENERATE “BETTER-FOR-YOU” POTATO DISHES AT LEADING RESTAURANTS
Recently, Nation's Restaurant News, a weekly publication with a circulation of 80,000 and considered by many to be the leading foodservice trade publication, ran a great foodservice article on better-for-you ways chefs are preparing potatoes. Brandon Cook, Executive Sous Chef of the Culinary Research and Development Department, from The Cheesecake Factory, and a past attendee of one of USPB’s Culinary Institute of America seminars on Healthy Potatoes, is featured in the article. The opening paragraph of the article even references the USPB’s statistics regarding the continuing decline in in-home potato consumption, then continues on to make the comparison restaurants have not seen such declines and chefs do not foresee any major shift in the way people eat. Linda McCashion, USPB Vice President, Public Relations, emphasizes, “Receiving this kind of placement in the leading foodservice trade publication is an important part of the USPB Foodservice Program and serves to continually keep potatoes highly visible to the nation’s leading chefs.”
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| USING FROZEN POTATOES TO MAKE FAMILY PLEASING DINNERS
The June 1 issue of All You magazine contained a feature called “Make a meal they’ll love with frozen French fries”. The sub headline read “Steak cut, waffle cut, classic cut – who says these spuds have to sit on the sidelines? Grab a bag and whip up dinner in no time.” Photos included a Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole (w broccoli and ground turkey), Southwestern Smothered Fries (w/black beans), an Ore-Ida package of Golden Fries, and a picture of waffle cuts with dipping sauces.
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| 2007 USPB CONSUMER/MARKET/INDUSTRY RESEARCH CD NOW AVAILABLE
Research lays the foundation for all USPB programs, and it also supports our activities with industry stakeholders--shippers, processors and exporters. Given the rapidly changing environment, it is critical to continually update and add to our research library to ensure programs and activities stay in tune with the marketplace. The USPB continues to support the industry in its ability to increase demand by conducting core research and analysis. Understanding the consumer, the market and the drivers that impact change are critical to increasing demand for potatoes throughout the world. Recently completed, the 2007 USPB Consumer/Market/Industry Research CD 2007-1 is now available for industry use by contacting Mac Johnson, USPB Vice President, Domestic Marketing at 303-369-7783 or macjohnson@uspotatoes.com. This comprehensive research CD contains 13 files in the order as outlined below. To view a brief description of each available research report, please download this summary from the USPB web site: Top-Line Summary
Other CD’s Available
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| ENSURING ALL US POTATO GROWERS KNOW HOW USPB IS WORKING TO BUILD THEIR BUSINESS
The USPB Industry Communications & Policy Department (ICP) works to ensure growers in all segments of the US potato industry are aware of and understand how the many global and domestic marketing programs conducted annually by USPB are working to build the positive US potato image and long-term consumer demand. The task of reaching all growers and all grower segments with the news of this work, so they can incorporate USPB research and marketing programs into their own operations, involves using a segmented, multimedia approach with the goal of each grower reading or hearing about a USPB program or activity a minimum of five (5) times per month. As part of ICP’s new program planning for Fiscal Year 2008, staff is considering the development of a public relations and advertising program on regional farm radio networks. This communications approach has registered great success in other commodity research and promotion programs in the past, and farm radio is an integral part of many agribusiness marketing communications programs. However, with the advent of and increasing adoption rate of satellite radio, especially in rural areas, the USPB ICP Department needs your input. As a potato grower, do you still listen to your local radio station, and more so, do you listen to the local farm reports on the radio? Or, do you have satellite radio and would say you listen to a satellite station most of the time? Your input will help shape the development and scope of the proposed USPB radio public relations and advertising program. And to thank you for taking a few moments to complete this very short survey at http://www.uspotatoes.com/survey2007.html and giving us your input, USPB staff will randomly draw 20 names, at close of business, Friday, May 11th, to receive the HEALTHY MR. POTATO HEAD™ “action figure”, recently sold on eBay for approximately $15! Thank you in advance for taking a few moments to help guide the activities of your USPB Industry Communications & Policy Department. We look forward to hearing everyone’s comments and opinions.
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©2007 United States Potato Board |
