US frozen potato sales still lag

NPD Group’s PotatoTrac report of sales by the largest four frozen potato processors for the first quarter of 2010 indicate that overall sales in pounds were still down compared to last year by 0.4 percent and down 2.8 percent for the 12 months ending in March of 2010.

Total sales of frozen products are at their lowest level seen over the last five years. Nonetheless, the quarterly data may indicate that total sales are beginning to stabilize.
 
The most positive news from the report shows that frozen exports climbed 13.1 percent for the first quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. Nonetheless, total exports for the 12 months ending in March were down 4.6 percent.

In summary, there were signs in the first quarter of 2010 that the worst of the decline in frozen sales is hopefully over, though sales still remain below levels seen over the past few years. However, the recent strengthening of the U.S. and Canadian dollar relative to European and Australian currencies may limit the rebound in export growth and continue to keep frozen sales below the peak levels seen in 2007 and 2008.