According to a Capital Press report, the Idaho Potato Commission is considering advertising on major online sales platforms such as Amazon, Walmart and Kroger Co. websites.
“If we ran a program starting in May through August, it could cost a little over $100,000,” Commission CEO Frank Muir said. Costs would be covered by recently lower spending on travel and on certain promotion and incentive programs. He has not yet made a formal recommendation to commissioners.
The idea is to sell more Idaho potatoes via online platforms, which are growing in popularity. More than one-third of Americans have used them recently to get home deliveries. That’s up from about 15% before COVID-19 concerns prompted stay-at-home orders in most of the country over the past six-plus weeks. Much of that buying is expected to continue even as many states reopen their economies this month.
“We are still evaluating it, and how to measure it,” Muir said.