An effective marketing campaign in Western Australia has successfully turned declining potato sales into a profitable market.
Last year, WA growers invested $1.5 million into the development of a campaign which was designed to address consumers perceptions that potatoes were unhealthy. After just nine months, the Potato Marketing Corporation WA has lifted declining sales up by 2000 tonnes The Weekly Times reports.
Marketing expert Paul Graham told the 2014 Potato Industry Conference this week that over the last decade, the average Australian consumed 26kg of potatoes per annum, but that number dropped to 20kg in recent years.
He said that the campaign has served as a valuable tool in “inspiring behavioural change” amongst consumers, by providing them with tips on how to prepare vegetables easily.
Graham said that the success of the campaign and has now placed that category “back into growth”.
“We were surprised with the result (of the marketing campaign) and to see it begin to turn around so quickly,” Graham said.
Together with TV and radio advertisements, the WA potato industry is now looking to develop in-store supermarket advertising to promote the versatility of potatoes, specifically as the “king of the side dish”.
Graham said that the potential to extend the campaign nationally was on the cards, however the opportunity was still being discussed by the broader industry as the potato sector did not currently have a national marketing levy.