KENNEWICK — The humble potato may sometimes come across as a little too humble, so marketers have to find ways to make sure people don’t take it for granted. 

“Americans love potatoes,” said Tim Rendell, associate research director for Potatoes USA, a national potato marketing and advocacy organization. “We are America’s favorite vegetable, America’s favorite side dish and the No. 1 vegetable sold in America.” 

Research by several organizations, including Potatoes USA, the Washington Potato Commission and the Oregon Potato Commission, shows that consumer appreciation of the noble tuber is improving. 

“More consumers understand that potatoes are healthy, nutritious, versatile, a good value and grown locally,” said OPC Director Gary Roth. 

In fact, some people aren’t aware sometimes that they’re even consuming potatoes, Roth said, as evidenced by the recent rebranding of Lay’s Potato Chips. 

“Lay's rebrands because customers apparently didn't know that chips were made with real potatoes,” he said. “How many customers? Forty six percent of U.S. customers did not know that Lay's chips were made from potatoes. Their recent rebrand is the largest rebrand they have done in 100 years.” 

Lay’s had done the rebrand because they were surprised at how many consumers in the U.S. were unaware that their chips were made with potatoes, he said.  

Roth also cited a farming community in the Northwest, which he didn’t name, in which the student representatives to the local school board were unaware that french fries were made from potatoes. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem,” Roth said. “I've heard farmers for generations say that people don't know where their food comes from …  When you hear something like this, it really, really slaps us back into focus.” 

The OPC has commissioned advertising spots featuring athletes from Oregon State University discussing the health benefits of potatoes, Roth said. 

The Washington Potato Commission is also pushing education about potatoes through athletes, WPC Executive Director Chris Voigt said. The commission has inaugurated Team Potato, its program for showing the world that potatoes are healthy. Participants in running and biking events are given a Team Potatoes jersey to wear at the event. If they post photos of themselves in the shirt at the event to their social media, they can be reimbursed for their registration fees. 

One of the best vehicles for getting the word out is a video series called “Washington Grown,” now in its 13th season, in which hosts visit farms, restaurants and factories to highlight how the foods consumers enjoy are produced. Potato growers and processors are a frequent feature of that program, Voigt said. 

Oregon has a similar program called “Oregon Harvest,” Roth said, that travels to local food festivals and promotes agritourism and Northwest-grown produce. The potato was named the official state vegetable in 2023, which Roth said has helped with marketing. 

“We're always coming across ways, when appropriate, to use the designation for Oregon State Vegetable, (to remind people) that potatoes are indeed a vegetable,” he said. “They're nutritious and they power up not just your athletic performance, but your everyday life. We remain relentless in the messaging of these facts, and they're woven into almost everything that we do.”