International Year of the Potato On The Minds of Millions

DENVER (February 7, 2008)—The General Assembly of the United Nations named 2008 the “International Year of the Potato,” citing the potato’s strong nutrition profile and ability to feed the masses. The United States Potato Board (USPB) public relations team began building excitement for this celebration in the consumer media arena last July. By January, the potato celebration was in full swing, with nationwide press coverage on news stations and in newspapers and magazines.

The goal for this program is to reach 25 million consumers with the International Year of the Potato story by the end of Fiscal Year 2008 (June 30). As a result of aggressive media outreach over the course of just six months, the USPB has already generated media coverage equaling more than 15.5 million consumer impressions, or an advertising equivalency of almost $120,000 (these numbers do not include the high volume of on-line placements). This strengthens consumer understanding of the potato’s positive nutrition profile.

“Consumers continue to be surprised to find out the potato is a healthful vegetable,” said Bart Connors, Washington State potato grower and Co-Chairman of the USPB Domestic Marketing Committee. “Now we have the UN to back us up, and I think we’re all glad how the media has jumped on the story.”

The “official” launch date was January 17th, when morning news anchors and radio disc jockeys interviewed culinary aficionados Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough during a USPB satellite media tour. Bruce and Mark, who are both chefs and authors of The Ultimate Potato Book, broadcast from the United Nations International School (UNIS) in New York City. They gave a total of 27 live and taped interviews, reaching cities from Miami to Oklahoma City to Sacramento and many markets in between.

“Bruce and Mark were incredible! And we were so fortunate to work with the folks at UNIS to transmit our interviews from their impressive library,” said Linda McCashion, USPB Vice President, Public Relations, who was on set for the interviews. “Students with a wide array of cultural backgrounds assisted Bruce and Mark with demonstrating how to make Kootu Curry, a vegetarian main dish featuring potatoes.”

The students and chefs responded to many potato-related questions, the most popular being: “Why did the UN bestow this honor on the potato?” Most anchors were surprised to learn how important the potato can be in relieving world hunger due to the relative ease with which it can be grown and because of its positive nutrition profile. Bruce and Mark repeated the nutrition message points that potatoes are fat-, sodium-, and cholesterol-free; one medium-sized (5.3 ounce) potato contains 45 percent of the Daily Value of vitamin C; and with skins, potatoes are a good source of potassium and contain 8 percent of the daily value of fiber. They also championed the USPB-sponsored School Wellness Grant, available on www.potatogoodness.com.

“The PR team began priming the pump for this kind of high-level publicity back in July,” said Danny Johns, Florida potato grower who co-chairs the Domestic Marketing committee with Connors. “None of this kind of high-level publicity happens overnight.”

Last summer the USPB made presentations in the test kitchens of consumer magazines and at The Food Network to announce plans for the International Year of the Potato. The list of publications included: Woman’s Day, Food & Wine, Everyday Food (a Martha Stewart publication), First for Women, Women’s World, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Everyday with Rachael Ray, Relish (a newspaper insert), Better Homes & Gardens, Living the Country Life, Better Homes & Garden Special Interest Media, Southern Living, Oxmoor House Cookbooks, Cooking Light, Health, Coastal Living, Weight Watchers, and Something Extra.

An exciting result was Linda McCashion’s literal 15-minutes of fame as a guest on Martha Stewart Living Radio's Everyday Food with Sandra Gluck, a nationally broadcast show on Sirius. Many of the consumer publications, which schedule stories six-to eight months in advance, have plans to feature the International Year of the Potato story. Already, however, USPB has tracked results in Relish and Food & Wine stories that have ran, and even a full-color, five-page feature with convenience recipes in Something Extra.  

In October, an information-packed press kit with brand new recipes and photography was delivered to over 500 food editors across the country, making it easy for food writers to entertain their audiences. In December, a full-page color feature and suburban newspaper slick highlighted potato nutrition, the “Potatoes…Goodness Unearthed™” campaign signature and four new International recipes with eye-catching, mouth-watering photographs. These materials were distributed to complement the press-kit mailing. The combination of these two publicity tools has already garnered 176 print and on-line placements.

“We have all of 2008 to tell the International Year of the Potato story, so I’m certain we’ll continue to see coverage all year,” Johns explained. “It’s gratifying to see this level of interest for what I consider a very distinct honor for the potato industry.”

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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.