U.S. retail sales volume of potatoes was up 5.4% in July–September 2024 compared to the same period last year. Every category where volume rose—including fresh potatoes, chips, frozen potatoes, refrigerated potatoes, and deli-prepared sides—saw increases of more than 5%. Total dollar sales were stable at $4.5 billion for the period (-0.2%), and consumer price declined 5.3%.
Frozen potatoes saw the largest volume increase (6.6%), followed by chips (6.5%). Volume only decreased for instant potatoes (-1.4%) and canned potatoes (-5.0%), which represent 6% and 0.6% of volume sales respectively.
Potato chips saw increased dollar sales (3.2%), as did refrigerated potatoes (5%) and deli-prepared sides (7.4%). Dollar sales for frozen potatoes were stable (-0.01%), while they fell for fresh potatoes (-8.6%), instant potatoes (-1.5%), and canned potatoes (-2.5%).
Volume sales for fresh potatoes rose 5.0%. Russet, yellow, petite and medley potatoes all saw volume increases of more than 5%. Russets, which make up 65% of fresh volume sales, had a volume increase of 10.6%. Fresh dollar sales increased for yellow (5.6%), petite (1.7%), medley (5.1%), and fingerling (5.4%) potatoes. Overall, fresh consumer prices were down 13%, with an average price per pound of $0.95.
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.
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Potatoes USA
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