North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission eyes UK market growth

How are you trying to grow sales of North Carolina sweet potatoes in the UK?

It is important to us to support education and consumption efforts throughout Europe and in global markets. Part of this is educating consumers on the health benefits of sweet potatoes and their versatility in cooking, so that they can advocate for a regular supply of sweet potatoes in their local supermarket – something which we’re able to supply with our crop from October through until June.

It is also a priority of ours to engage with retailers and provide them with an overview of the demand for sweet potatoes alongside the advantages of North Carolina sweet potatoes. Our latest large-scale research, conducted by our research partner TRKR, explored the size of the sweet potato market in the UK, as well as our other European markets, France and Germany.

It detailed the needs and motivations of consumers to buy sweet potatoes, and the incentives and challenges for key stakeholders in the supply chain. The findings suggested there is significant headroom to grow shopper numbers, and this helped our exporters to position produce accordingly, to meet the needs of importers. This in-depth research was essential to help stabilise and grow sales for our producers and farmers.

We also work closely with buyers to establish promotion programmes that support strong sales and pricing initiatives that drive consumer value and preserve profitability for producers and buyers.

What level of success have you had so far?

Following the success of our crop yield in 2023, we were well positioned to support the demand for sweet potatoes across our three markets: the UK, France and Germany.

By working closely with the US Embassy in London and the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, we’ve had great success in developing relationships with key UK retailers. In fact, at the end of last year we hosted a buyer’s mission to North Carolina for one of the largest retailers in the UK.

The trip consisted of over a dozen meetings and visits to many of the producers that export, as well as a meet-and-greet North Carolina-style BBQ for our UK guests. It fostered connections between the retailer’s existing suppliers and created an opportunity for them to meet more growers, packers and shippers, as well as university sweet potato researchers and breeders.

The trade mission resulted in an initial trial purchase of 300 metric tonnes of sweet potatoes, which the retailer said was a great success. This has since resulted in an additional $1.04 million in export sales.

What is the focus of your current marketing campaign?

We have a variety of marketing activities ongoing to encourage consumers to add sweet potatoes to their weekly food shop. For example, we’re always on the lookout for new food trends and develop cost-effective, healthy and easy-to-recreate recipes for our three markets, engaging with consumers on social media and online.

We’re also investing in influencer marketing activity, collaborating with several key influencers across our markets to tap into their following and engage their audiences with new recipes. These influencers have been chosen for their nutritional knowledge, as well as the previous content and are exceeding our expectations.

In parallel to our consumer engagement, we’re constantly working on our trade relationships.

We have recently developed an information pack, which details the insights we found from our TRKR research. We will be discussing this in future meetings with UK retailers and stockists.

Later this year, we’re inviting contacts in the trade and consumer space to North Carolina to see the innovative work we’re doing on our farms and to learn more about our practices. Influencers and journalists [including from FPJ] will come over for four days, culminating in our annual NC Sweetpotato FarmHER luncheon.

The event will celebrate the ladies of our North Carolina sweet potato industry, while also serving as a fundraiser for a local foundation. The Pretty In Pink Foundation provides financial assistance to North Carolina residents fighting breast cancer who may not have insurance or may be limited in the coverage they have.

What are the main challenges facing North Carolina’s growers and exporters at the moment?

For our producers in North Carolina, this season has had highs and lows, and our crop has yet to be harvested. Like most of the United States, we experienced extreme heat and drought this year and it occurred as our crop was just beginning to grow. While we have since had rain and more seasonable conditions, we are heading into hurricane season, and that is always unpredictable. Thankfully, we produce a crop that under most circumstances is heat-resistant and grows in a sandy loam soil that allows for draining when we do have heavy rains.

Weather is just one challenge for our producers. Another is the shocking increase in all their input costs, without the purchase price of the product keeping pace. Our leading expense is labour, and North Carolina sweet potatoes are labour-intensive from start to finish, including hand-harvesting to protect the skin and overall root vegetable.

Producers also juggle the ever-changing geopolitical trade landscape, and this can have a significant impact given our large investments in exporting the product. However, farmers are consummate optimists. Our producers will begin harvesting in the coming weeks and we are expecting a great crop and very satisfied customers, despite our challenges this season.

What makes North Carolina so well suited to sweet potato production?

In 1971, 10 years after the formation of the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, the state became the number one sweet potato-producing state in the US and has remained there since. Furthermore, according to the USDA, America is the largest exporter of sweet potatoes in the world and North Carolina is the biggest exporter of any state.

Through our partnership with the research team at North Carolina State University over 20 years ago, we developed the Covington variety. Now grown in high volume by our farmers, the North Carolina Covington is the best possible product in terms of quality, shelf stability and versatility.

Further to this, our hot, moist climate and rich, fertile soil are ideal for cultivating sweet potatoes. Of all the sweet potatoes produced each year, over 40 per cent are exported, to 34 countries worldwide, with 85 per cent of the total exports going to the UK and Europe. Our unique climate, combined with our intensive research programme, means the crop is of the highest quality and taste