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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 68 POTATO GROWER coming to Boise Idaho in 2006. I Ted Kreis was charged with organizing a display booth for the group that year and have every year since. Following the Potato Congress we have exhibit- ed first at the NPC Seed Seminars and later the Potato Expos. The 2016 Potato Expo marked our 11th year together. Notes Other local firms or organi- zations exhibiting at the Expo includ- ed Harriston Mayo Lockwood Manufacturing Tri-Steel Manufactur- ing North Dakota Certified Seed Minnesota Certified Seed and Pieper Farms. USPB Launches Spud Nation Food Truck Venture The United States Potato Board USPB launched its first Spud Nation Food Truck at Potato Expo 2016. USPB President and CEO Blair Richardson unveiled the Spud Nation Food Truck at the conclusion of the If You Can See It You Can Be It luncheon keynote address amid an entertaining curtain drop before excited Expo attendees. Afterwards industry mem- bers eagerly gathered around the truck dubbed Bettie for walk- through inspections kicking the tires and learning more about this new USPB foodservice venture. After the unveil Richardson explained why food trucks will pro- vide valuable demand building oppor- tunities for the U.S. potato industry. By 2017 food trucks will be a 2.7 billion market according to the National Restaurant Association he said. Currently food trucks are only reaching about 50 percent of the U.S. population but its one of the fastest growing market segments in foodser- vice and several sources reveal there are huge opportunities for the future. Seventy-one percent of Americans polled in a recent survey indicated they are comfortable buying meals from food trucks. We need to be a leader and trend setter in this rapidly changing environment. Spud Nation food trucks are part of the new marketing and education programs to be launched by the USPB in 2016. The state of the art food trucks are owned by the 2500 farming families involved in the potato indus- try. This means the USPB will control how potatoes are used and presented and the messages used. Food trucks are dynamic billboards showcasing the food they create and taking it to consumers where they live and play. Static billboard advertising in major markets like Denver CO can run as high as 12000 per month. Spud Nation food trucks are much more than mobile advertising though. This venture enables the USPB to do new things such as partnering with other industry groups in unveil- ing and rotating innovative new product launches. Spud Nation will have direct con- tact and actual consumer interac- tion at many lev- els. The USPB will have data on new exclusively fea- tured products to share with the industry. This food truck enterprise will enable the USPB to carry its message to market and lever- age the messaging and health benefits of potatoes which have been gathered over many years of research. It will be a small yet extremely visible and growing part of the USPB marketing programs that is scalable. Spud Nation will provide a direct experien- tial marketing channel for engaging consumers with globally inspired potato dishes they have never seen or considered before. Food trucks appeal to consumers who are called Vibrant Diners. From USPB research this target is a group- ing which falls within the Adventurous Diners and Live to Eat market segments. This food truck target consumer trends heavily toward millennial who are male and they are important because they influ- ence other consumers. This is how trends often begin in the food world. This generations age range is 18-34