b"Foodservice Sales Drove U.S. Potato Utilization Growth Of 2.1%Kim Breshears,Chief Marketing Officer, Potatoes USATo help the industry understand theused after harvest.demand for domestically produced potatoes,PotatoesUSAconductsaAsmentionedearlier,foodservice sales and utilization study annually.bolstered the utilization of potatoes Thispastyear,theutilizationofin FY22. Potato sales to foodservice U.S.-grownpotatoesincreasedbygrew 11.9% (1,963 MM lbs.). It was 2.1%(683MMlbs.)duringJulythe only channel to grow this past 2021-June 2022 (FY22), bolstered byyear. thefoodservicechannel.This growth is a strong indicator that theRetail sales declined 3.1%; however, foodservicesectorisrecoveringcomparedtotwoyearsago,retail from the impacts of the pandemic.sales were only down 0.6%. Exportsweredown2.3%inFY22,while Utilization shows the share of pota- imports were up 8.7%. When calcu-A US Potatoestoes sold, by form (fresh, processed,latingtheutilizationofU.S.pota-dehydrated), from the domesticallytoes, imports are deducted to ensure growncrop.Alldataiscalculatedwe're only measuring the U.S. crop. usingafreshweightequivalentThe share of volume sales by form measurementtoensureweunder- remainedsimilartotheprevious Messagestandwhathappenstothetotalyear:39%ofpotatoessoldwere crop regardless of how the potato isfrozen,26%werefresh,22%were 6 POTATO GROWER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022"