Seven million more shoppers are already thinking more positively about potatoes, following the start of the Love Potatoes campaign this summer.
The Potato Council-led initiative, which focuses on the health, nutrition and cost benefits of the British potatoes, has since been making headlines in national newspapers and on many popular TV and radio shows, including BBC Breakfast, The One Show and Country File.
The Mirror, The Star, The Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, as well as more than 40 radio interviews, have all talked up the virtues of the potato as “easy on the wallet and on the waistline”, to promote spuds as a healthy food and one to help in times of the credit crunch.
Kathryn Race, Potato Council marketing director, insists these messages are key to protecting the long-term future of the industry.
She said: “The biggest challenge in recent years has been to counteract the declining levels of potato consumption, particularly amongst the younger generation.
“Health, convenience and value for money are the main deciding factors when choosing what to eat. Potatoes outperform other carbohydrates (namely rice and pasta) in all three areas and this is where activity is focused - and it is working!
“Our monitoring and research shows that seven million more shoppers had already seen or heard something positive about potatoes at the start of the campaign. This is fantastic news and is a great foundation on which to build the Love Potatoes message throughout the rest of the year.”
The latest Potato Council study of 2,000 households has also revealed that while many believe British classics are disappearing from the dining table, three quarters of people think we should make more of an effort to bake traditional foods at meals times.
Some 76 per cent of UK households are now going back to basics with their cooking and, as the prices of pasta and rice rise, they are turning to staples such as potatoes.
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