Interview with Nick Bartelme, Global Manager of Retail Market Development at Potatoes USA
Potatoes USA, the national board for America’s potato growers and importers, is fusing field research, retail analytics and TikTok-ready storytelling to keep the country’s favourite vegetable front-and-centre through 2025.
Its “field-to-fork” agenda spans everything from breeding russets that fry lighter to sending athletes across finish lines in potato costumes, all aimed at lifting demand and value for farmers, retailers and chefs.
During a recent interview with Produce Leaders, Global Manager of Retail Market Development Nick Bartelme explained that the strategy knits together insights, merchandising toolkits and influencer partnerships “to get more people eating more potatoes in more ways,” and does so faster than any previous marketing cycle.
Retail remains the engine.
“Over 85 % of U.S. households buy potatoes, and fresh potatoes are purchased nearly 11 times per year. Potatoes are the number one vegetable in volume sold and the fifth in dollar sales among all fresh produce items. Potatoes also contribute to higher total basket value, making them a strategic category for driving overall store sales.”
Independent IRI studies show that potatoes reach more households than any other crop.
To help retailers turn that reach into sales, Potatoes USA offers easy-to-use tools: clear planograms based on real data, seasonal promo guides, and ready-to-shop recipe content from its yearly Path to Purchase and Attitudes & Usage research.
As Bartelme puts it, the goal is to take potatoes “from dump bin to destination.”
Digital channels now provide the loudest megaphone. “Potatoes USA leverages a multi-faceted digital strategy to engage shoppers and elevate excitement around potatoes,” Bartelme note.
Among those efforts is the “Potatoes Fuel Performance” campaign, where fitness, lifestyle and culinary creators on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube link training videos directly to retailer carts, generating measurable lifts in purchase intent during paid tests.
The athletic message broke through nationally when engineer-runner Ainsley Chapman tackled April’s Salt Lake City Half Marathon as the “Speedy Spud.”
Chapman mentioned that as a runner, she needs nutrient-dense foods, with an emphasis on carbohydrates, to complete her runs and continually improve.
She said potatoes offer a versatile and economical way to get those nutrients.
Science underpins the storytelling.
Variety pipelines like the National Chip Program and the tiered National Fry Processors Trial chase longer storage life and better fry colour, while the grower-led Potato Research Advisory Committee has channelled nearly $30.7 million in Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants since 2016 to projects targeting yield, sustainability and mechanisation.
Governance is evolving too.
Washington grower Shelley R. Olsen elected board chair last August has streamlined committees and backed artificial-intelligence tools for reputation management alongside a Culinary Medicine curriculum that places potatoes in hospital teaching kitchens.
By aligning lab work, digital influence and hands-on menu testing, Potatoes USA believes it can insulate the category against carbohydrate fads and global competition.
As Bartelme sums up, the board’s 2025 playbook leaves little doubt that every link in the chain is now tuned to “get more people eating more potatoes in more ways.”
