Dehydrated Potato Products In 

Northern America

The marketing year that ended in June 2021 was unlike any year the US potato industry has ever experienced. With pandemic restrictions ebbing and flowing from June 2020 to July 2021, sales at foodservice fluctuated while retail purchases remained extremely strong throughout the year.

Progressive Produce grows, packs and ships a wide variety of year-round produce, farming thousands of acres throughout North and South America.

United States imports of potatoes and potato products for the July 2020 – June 2021 marketing year increased by 12% in fresh weight equivalent volume and 16% in value, compared to the previous marketing year.

Strong demand for potatoes and potato products and tight domestic supplies continues to drive increases in imports for the current (July – June) marketing year. For July 2020 – March 2021 total imports are up 9 percent, led by an 18% increase in chips and a 15 percent increase in dehydrated potatoes.

Potato sales for Q3 (January – March 2021) of Marketing Year 2021 have caught up to the changed buying habits that the pandemic brought about.

Flake production is not only a potato process for specialists. More and more potato processors see it as an ideal solution for their sustainability improvement.

Idahoan Foods saw sales of its dehydrated mashed potato products rise during the pandemic as consumers cooked more meals at home.

The Washington Potato Co. facility in Warden still smolders the next morning and smoke fills the air after a fire broke out in a potato dehydrator the afternoon of Jan. 21, prompting a response from fire departments across Grant and neighboring Adams counties.

Idahoan Foods is delivering a pouch of Idahoan® Buttery Homestyle® Mashed Potatoes to more than 300,000 Memphis households this National Potato Lovers Month and will make a donation to Mid-South Food Bank later in the month.

The Washington Potato Company potato dehydration plant in Warden, Washington, was destroyed by a massive fire overnight. The fire caused the immediate evacuation of about a third of nearby town of Warden (pop: 2700) for several hours due to concerns that an ammonia tank located in the plant could burst.