Turn The Vision Into Consumption Reality

By Jim Prevor, Editor-in-Chief, Produce Business

This study is fascinating and important — not just for the potato industry.

There is nothing particularly surprising in the results. Why wouldn’t a photo of a beautifully cooked potato dish lead to more attention and purchasing than a picture of some bulk potatoes? As the analysis recognized, the food is beautiful and eye-catching. People are not actually interested in the ingredient, the potato. They are interested in the benefit, a simple baked potato overflowing with toppings or a complex potato au gratin, and, of course, photos suggest usage that consumers might not have come up with on their own.

I am not certain about the comment in the piece that simple photos are fine for commodities such as berries, apples, and peppers, etc. That would be giving up too much too fast. Beautiful photos of these items in mouth-watering dishes — say peppers of several colors over a sizzling steak or beautiful apples in a wonderful Waldorf salad, or berries in ice cream — might well boost the effectiveness of these promotions. For similar reasons, a consumer who wasn’t thinking of buying bell pepper sees the picture, gets a hankering for steak prepared that way and puts it on his or her shopping list.

As always, the great research raises additional questions. For example, why stop at the circular? If photos of prepared potatoes boost sales, why not have in-store signage with a “potato dish of the week” next to each in-store display?  Isn’t it likely that for the same reasons that attractive photos of finished potato dishes in the circulars boost sales — won’t similar photos in store drive consumer interest and purchasing?

Another interesting question is whether driving the cooking theme home wouldn’t boost sales more. Photos are beautiful, but what about adding recipes? How about making it convenient by selling all the ingredients in a little paper bag or box right next to the potatoes? We sell lots of salad kits that attract consumers because they make the job of making salad easy. Why wouldn’t making the job of making a fully loaded baked potato easy also sell well?

Also, we probably need to define things further. Surely not all recipes are created equal. With further research, we might find that certain types of dishes — say entrees versus side dishes — have differential effects on sales as a result of a circular ad.

One also wonders whether in-store demos — with the dish in the circular — might not pay off in high volume stores. And here might be a win for the produce industry: Because these cooked dishes often involve non-produce ingredients, perhaps those other items will pay for the demo and other promotions.

It is wonderful, of course, to have found a much more effective promotional technique, and kudos are owed to the United States Potato Board for being willing to break convention, invest in research and follow its implications. The growers that fund the operation will receive a big payoff from the organization’s efforts to facilitate advertising that will be more effective. Retailers, who will see bigger returns on their circular investment, also benefit as do consumers who get ideas for more delicious meals. So it is win-win-win.

What we don’t yet know, however, is whether the boost in promotional response actually translates into higher annual sales and consumption. If the beautiful photos of prepared dishes excite consumers to buy potatoes — but the consumers don’t make the dishes and eat the food — then the excitement of the photo might simply steal sales from the weeks following the promotion.

So the challenge for the industry has to be how to not merely entice the consumer with a vision of what can be — but also the industry can benefit if we help turn that vision into a reality. We now know that a photo of a prepared dish can boost sales in a promotion, so now we have to ask how we can actually get consumers to make the potato dish, thus use up the potatoes and keep purchases high in subsequent weeks. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know exactly how to do this. More recipes seem like a good idea; easy-to-access apps and websites, QR codes, etc., all seem likely to help. Still, there is a challenge here.

In fact, this is really the challenge, not just for the potato industry but the entire produce industry. What techniques will increase usage and consumption, not just promotional sales? This is important because it is only increased consumption that can ultimately sustain higher sales of potatoes or any produce item.