PW-ACTUA Spud Nation: commercial American potato promotion ‘The food trucks are a platform for innovation, allowing us to market the potato in a completely different way’, Blair Richardson explains. During the recently held PotatoExpo congress in Las Vegas, the meeting place for the North American potato sector, the United States Potato Board (USPB) launched a new, creative and commercially-based potato promotion campaign: Spud Nation with a sign displaying a potato food truck. The aim of the nationallyoperating USPB is to show the potato to its best advantage, for which the organisation provides the 2,500 affiliated potato growers and traders with ideas, information, tools and inspiration to achieve their joint aims. For this purpose, the marketingdriven organisation, with its especially charismatic director in the person of Blair Richardson, cleverly uses the trends in the market. One such trend is the food truck. America has over 4,500 of these trucks. Nearly 50 percent of consumers sometimes buy a meal from one of them. The trucks, often with a traditional character, offer the consumer convenience and tasty dishes. The chefs in the trucks often present traditional dishes with a slightly different angle. For a little extra promotion, the USPB organised a competition this year to find the best potato recipe among the food truck owners. After many preliminaries in the various States of America, the three finalists were invited to come and cook during the event. Given the enormous interest at the cooking presentations, it seems that this way of preparing food is also a big thing among professionals. To lift the event to a higher level and to inspire the growers, the USPB had invited the famous American TV chef Jeff Henderson to come and join the panel of judges. He also shared his life story with the two thousand or so potato professionals present. Chef Jeff’s success story wasn‘t always a bed of roses. In his youth he was a drugs dealer and after having spent nineteen years in prison, he ultimately became chef of the famous Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Today, after being an inspiring speaker, he’s also a well-known TV personality, writer of books and active in the stimulation and development of disadvantaged children like he used to be himself. Platform for innovation And to crown it all, the USPB The three finalists cooking in front of an enthusiastic Audience. 8 Potato World 2016 • number 2 Pagina 7
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