Frozen Potato Market Seems Healthy But Processors Seeking to Diversify.

French fries still dominate the market, but latest introductions include roasted and mashed products as alternatives to fries, hash browns and the like. Prices rise in North America.

International sales of frozen potato products aren't just in french fries any more. Recent introductions in the United States and Europe such as au gratin dishes, garlic dill wedges and roasted spuds are lending new excitement to the market.

Some industry observers think the future lies in flavored, roasted and diced potatoes -- as side dishes or as frozen meal components. One major processor, J.R. Simplot, Boise, Idaho, has gotten into the act with RoastWorks, a line of roasted potato and vegetable blends.

Lamb Weston, also of Boise, has brought out Oven Roasted Potatoes. Made from redskin spuds, they are available both as traditional wedges lightly brushed with a blend of canola and pure olive oil, or as tri-cut dices flavored with rosemary and garlic.

Most of the alternative products thus far are from niche players. NorSun Food Group, West Chester, Ohio, for example, has just launched Roasted Red Wedges with Garlic and Parmesan Cheese, and Roasted Red Chunks with Campfire Seasoning, Roasted Gold Chunks with Country Seasoning and Roasted Red Wedges with Chipotle.

In an unusual move, NorSun is distributing the line exclusively at Wal-Mart supercenters rather than conventional supermarkets; two-pound packages are retailing for $3.49. Until now, the company's business has been entirely on the food service side -- hotels, country clubs, restaurants and institutions. "We saw a need to offer the same type of top-quality specialty products to individual consumers through retail," said Donald Smith, president of the company.

"Roasted is the buzz word these days because people want flavored potatoes as a key meal component," opined Michael Fluchere, a San Clemente, California-based sales and marketing consultant to the vegetable industry. "Consumers are voting with their pocketbooks because they like the taste of blended, flavored products."

Yet most of the money in those pocketbooks is still going for fries, which have accounted for 86% to 88% of the US market during the past few years. Growth at US supermarkets, moreover, has been sluggish -- just 1.6% to $861 million for potato and onion products over the 12 months ended March 28, 2000, reported Information Resourees, Inc. (IRI), Chicago, Illinois.