America's ag promotion groups work to educate consumers, as well as research and promote our nation’s agricultural products. Whether potatoes or pork, mangos or cotton, soybeans or almonds, ag promotion groups help consumers make informed choices and learn about new products.
Although all ag promotion groups do have a similar goal and purpose – to pool their resources to increase demand and long-term economic growth for their industries – they all accomplish this in different ways, tailoring their efforts to apply strategies that work best for each commodity.
The United States Potato Board (USPB) is one of several national ag promotion groups operating under the oversight of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). They are the central organizing force in implementing programs that increase demand for potatoes at home and abroad. This group provides the ideas, information, tools and inspiration for the industry to unite in achieving common goals.
Anchored by a strong foundation of market and consumer research and analysis, the USPB domestic and international potato marketing programs include: advertising, nutrition science, public relations, retail and foodservice marketing, and issues management. Whether the potato is grown for fresh, frozen, chip, dehydrated or seed use, the USPB is dedicated to positioning potatoes as a nutrition powerhouse—truly, goodness unearthed. And all of these efforts mean more economic growth and market viability for American potato farmers.
- For Fiscal Year 2013 (July 2012 – June 2013), U.S. potato exports were a record $1.6 billion, an increase of 4% over FY12
- The volume of exports increased 4% to 1,561,896 metric tons, or 66 million hundredweight at the fresh weight equivalent
- The volume of U.S. exports has increased 26% over the past five marketing years, led by a 62% increase in fresh, a 36% increase in dehydrated and a 17% increase in frozen
- For the first six months of FY14, the volume of exports of frozen products is up 2%, dehydrated is up 10% and fresh is up 2%
The National Mango Board’s (NMB) mission is to increase the demand for fresh mangos in the U.S. by conducting promotion, market and production research. The NMB accomplishes this through three core programs: marketing, research and industry relations.
Understanding consumer purchasing behaviors is key to increasing mango consumption in the U.S. The NMB conducts ongoing consumer research to explore consumer awareness, knowledge about mangos, buying habits, barriers to purchase and many other facets of consumer attitudes relative to mangos. Results from their consumer research help create, support and guide marketing efforts and messages to increase mango demand.
Demand is the most direct and practical way to monitor consumer purchasing behavior since it reflects all of the conditions impacting buying decisions. Most of the changes in the demand for mangos come from attracting new households to buy (market penetration) and far less in changing the number of mangos purchased (market intensity) per buyer.
- With NMB programs, market penetration increased from under 3% in 2008 to over 13% in 2013.
- Mango availability per capita has increased 53% since 2005 to an estimated 2.87 pounds per year in 2013.
This means that increased mango sales are related to more consumers perceiving mangos as an option, and much of this is due to NMB’s work. Through market penetration more consumers are likely to make mangos a routine part of their diets. By providing promotional information to increase consumer awareness of the fruit, NMB’s efforts convince more potential customers to give them a try.
Whether engaging in consumer research, nutrition education or advertising, ag promotion groups help America’s farmers and agribusinesses navigate through marketing challenges, opening doors to new markets and broadening our food options.
