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European campaign promoting fresh potatoes prolonged

April 07, 2023

Promotional bodies Bord Bia, Europatat and VLAM recently announced that their campaign “Potatoes, prepare to be surprised – Europe’s favourite since 1536”, will continue for three more years. The aim of the programme’s activities is to encourage the consumption of fresh potatoes among millennials in Ireland, France and Belgium.

Europatat Secretary General Berta Redondo told PotatoWorld magazine earlier that consumption of fresh potato is going down every year, partly because there is this image of potatoes as fat and boring. ‘This promotion project is very important for the sector, the three participating countries have seen real progress’, she states.

European funding for potato promotion

The first promotion project was launched in 2020 and ended in December 2022, but the European Commission approved to continuate the project three years more. In a recent press release, Europatat explains that the project, coordinated by the VLAM, with Europatat and Bord Bia as partners, has a requested grant of 2,740,486.40 euro, 80 percent of the total budget of 3,425,608 euro. The promotional bodies together confirm that the activities of their joint initiative, which is co-financed by the European Commission under the EU Promotion policy, have been successful and will be continued and run until December 2025.

Slow down the decrease in fresh potato consumption

‘Fresh potatoes remain Europe’s most popular main meal carbohydrate and are deeply anchored in the food habits of the European Union, however nowadays they face two main obstacles: a long-term decrease in their consumption; and a stagnation of their image as a traditional food’, states Europatat, adding that this trend has led to a decrease of potato consumption among the different age groups, especially in people between 18 and 34 year old living on their own, co-habiting or with young families (the so-called millennials). To slow down this consumption trend, the new campaign aims to put fresh potatoes back in the minds and lives of millennials with a clear message: ‘potatoes fit in their modern, healthy and sustainable lifestyle, because they are a tasty, versatile and high-quality food with good nutritional and health benefits.’

Potato surprises involving influencers

To inspire millennials to easily integrate potatoes into their daily lifestyle, sixty new potato recipes will be added to the 300 recipes already available on the campaign’s website and social media profiles. Over the next three years, a number of activations, such as mini-events and contests around the theme “potato surprises”, involving influencers will also take place in the three countries of focus. Moreover, a series of “Did you know” animations showcasing cooking skills, potato storage and sustainability tips and facts will be developed in seven languages to reach a higher number of millennials in Europe.

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