US: Retail volume of fresh potatoes drops in June, especially russets

Overall potato volumes sold at U.S. retailers slipped in June compared to a year ago the same month, but with an almost %5 increase in price per-pound, values increased slightly. That includes fresh and processed categories; fresh sales volumes alone dropped 5.9%. The June 2018/18 comparison by Potatoes USA showed volume of retail sales dropped 3.2%, but overall value of the category rose 1.1%. Factors leading to the decline, according to Potatoes USA, were drops in: Fresh, down 5.9%; deli sides, down 11.4%; potato chips and canned potatoes, down 1% and 3.6%; respectively. Frozen and refrigerated potato products were up 2.6% and 2%, respectively. Heavier bags of potatoes declined, with 10-pound bags seeing a 15.4% drop, and heavier bags down 12.7%. Read The Packer report