U.S. retail potato sales volume up for marketing year

Published 3:10 pm Thursday, September 4, 2025

Retail potato sales volume increased slightly from year to year through June and substantially from the comparable period that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic.

Volume sales increased by 2.3% during the July 2024-June 2025 marketing year, “reflecting sustained consumer demand for this versatile, nutrient-dense vegetable,” according to a news release from Potatoes USA.

The most recent total is 13% higher than July 2018-June 2019, the final full marketing year before coronavirus restrictions drove greater demand as consumers stocked up to prepare more meals at home.

Retail potato sales volume increases in 2024-25 were driven by fresh, frozen and deli-prepared sides categories — up by 2.6%, 3.7% and 1.6%, respectively, the national industry marketing group said.

Chip sales stayed steady, increasing 0.2%. Declines were 2% for dehydrated potato products, 0.4% for refrigerated and 1.1% for canned.

Potato sales volume totaled about 15.3 billion pounds in fresh weight equivalent. The biggest categories are chips at more than 5.35 billion, fresh at more than 5.16 billion and frozen at more than 2.62 billion, according to Potatoes USA data from Circana.

In the fresh category, volume sales in the July-June period increased by 4% for russets, 5.5% for yellows, 7.8% for petites and 1.5% for fingerlings. Sales volumes fell by 11% for reds, 4% for whites and 5.5% for purple potatoes.

Looking at fresh potatoes, “It’s no shock we’ve seen growth in russets, yellows and the baby potatoes because consumers are feeling the pinch of inflation,” Ross Johnson, Idaho Potato Commission vice president of retail and international sales, told Capital Press. “And so they are turning away from foodservice and doing more shopping.”

Retail demand is good as consumers are more concerned about stretching their dollars, he said. Fresh potatoes, for example, “are one of the best values in the produce department” from a price-per-pound standpoint, and a fresh potato “doesn’t go bad three days after you get it home.”

Volume sales increased for fresh potatoes sold in bulk, a category that represents 87% of fresh sales, according to the Potatoes USA release. By pack size, the most recent one-year increases were 7.2% for bags under two pounds, 10.5% for two to four pounds, 17.8% for eight pounds and 3.6% for 10 pounds.

As for retail potato sales in dollars compared to a year earlier, the overall decrease of 0.5% to about $19.86 billion was driven by a 2.7% decline in the average consumer price per pound (all categories), to $2.30.

By category, year-to-year price declines were 0.9% for chips, 5.6% for fresh potatoes, 3.8% for frozen and 0.6% for instant, according to the release. Increases totaled 1.6% for refrigerated, 2.8% for deli-prepared sides and 0.4% for canned.

The most recent 2.7% year-to-year decline in the all-categories average price per pound compares to a 3.3% increase a year ago.

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