Households buy fewer potatoes

HOUSEHOLDS are buying potatoes less frequently and in lower volumes, Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan told the Europatat Congress in Killarney yesterday.

“While it is estimated the average Irish household purchased approximately 190kg of fresh potatoes during 2004, the trend continues to be downwards,” she said.

Ms Coughlan said there was an image problem among younger people with a belief that potatoes are time-consuming to prepare, fattening and unfashionable And there is competition from other carbohydrates such as rice and pasta, which have shown huge volume increases in recent years. “With a greater prevalence of obesity in our population, consumers are looking towards the convenience of quick-fix diets such as the Atkins diet.” MsCoughlan told the congress, hosted by the Irish Potato Federation, that the industry was responding to these challenges.