U.S. potato product exports see growth

After a year of slumping, potato exports are mostly headed back in the right direction, according to officials with U.S. Potato Board. U.S. foreign potato product exports resumed growth during the first seven months of Fiscal Year 2016 after dropping for the first time in a decade during the prior fiscal year, according to a recently released trade report. U.S. frozen and dehydrated potato exports both increased significantly from July 2015 year through January. Though fresh exports to Canada plummeted, several foreign markets also saw healthy growth in the fresh category. USPB Chief Marketing Officer John Toaspern attributes much of the improvement to his organization’s efforts to address foreign market concerns following disruptions caused by a labor slowdown at West Coast ports. “A lot of the decline last year was definitely due to the port issues,” Toaspern said. “We’ve done a lot of work to regain those markets.” More