Schmieding Produce prepares to launch in January a new skinny potato product to help Americans in a key month to lose weight.
“We are extremely excited about the launch of our new skinny potato product this coming January,” says Scott McDulin, vice president of marketing/retail sales with Schmieding Produce, according to freshplaza.com.
After the New Year, everybody wants to focus on health. According to research from PaleoLeap, the average weight gain between Thanksgiving and Christmas is 3.5 pounds, but overweight people gain an average of 5 to 10 pounds during this time frame.
100-calorie packs
Nowadays, the supermarkets are filled with 100-calorie packs of yogurt, pretzels, popcorn, snacks, etc. “Nabisco recently launched 100-calorie packs of Oreo’s,” shared McDulin. “It shows that the 100-calorie measurement resonates with today’s consumers so we want to add the same controlled calorie serving to the potato segment.”
The serving size for this non-GMO potato is 4.8 oz. or 135g, which equates to 100-calories. “Since it’s a natural product, not all potatoes will exactly have the same weight, but they will be around 4-5 oz. each,” mentioned McDulin. Schmieding Produce plans to sell the premium product in 3 lb. bags, offering approximately 10 potatoes in a bag.
The development of the skinny potato program is the result of the declining Russet market. Larger, 15 lb. bags are declining while growth of 5 lb. and 10 lb. bags is flat. “Breathing life into the Russet potato segment will provide us and the retailer with tremendous incremental growth opportunities, given the significant size of the overall Russet market. Today, Russets represent 53% of overall potato sales dollars. So, we are going to fish where the big fish are,” said McDulin.
