John Toaspern
Vice President
International Marketing
U.S. Potato Board
John Toaspern began work as the Vice President for International Marketing at the US Potato Board in January, 1999. Mr. Toaspern works very closely with the National Potato Council to address market access barriers to potatoes around the globe. Mr. Toaspern is also responsible for coordinating the Board’s international programs with all aspects of the US potato industry. Prior to joining the USPB, Mr. Toaspern spent 13 years with the Foreign Agricultural Service. Prior to joining FAS, Mr. Toaspern served as a Peace Corps volunteer. Mr. Toaspern earned a Masters of Arts degree from the Food Research Institute at Stanford University and a Bachelors of Arts degree in International Economics from Stanford.
The USPB has helped U.S. processors to further grow in Japan, by introducing new products to new and traditional channels.
Japan is far and away the largest market for U.S. potato exports. But what makes Japan such an important and exciting market is that it is still growing. The U.S. exports frozen and dehydrated potatoes to Japan as well as potato chips and fresh chipping potatoes to be processed in Japan. U.S. potato exports to Japan have grown from 130,069 metric tons valued at $96 million in 1989 to 307,110 MT valued at $302 million in 2008.
Japan was one of the first countries in Asia to enjoy McDonald’s restaurants. The success of McDonald’s and now many other quick service restaurants in Japan was built on the requirement that only U.S. frozen potatoes be served. By serving the very best fries in the world McDonald’s gained a strong and loyal customer base in Japan that continues to grow.
The United States Potato Board USPB promotes U.S. frozen and dehydrated potatoes to a very diverse audience in Japan. The initial markets of quick service restaurants for frozen potatoes and snack manufacturers for dehydrated potatoes are now very mature, with strong commercial relationships in place between US shippers and Japanese importers. These markets are still growing, but do not require a great deal of assistance from the USPB.
Instead the USPB focuses on the numerous alternative channels in the market that offer additional growth for U.S. exports to Japan. The Japanese ban on the import of almost all fresh potatoes from all countries, results in a shortage of potatoes and the need to use processed potato products for applications that would normally be filled by fresh potatoes. The USPB has been very successful in developing sales to the bakeries, food manufacturers, convenience stores, noodle manufacturers and institutions (hospitals, nursing homes, cafeterias, etc.). The USPB has helped U.S. processors to further grow in Japan, by introducing new products to new and traditional channels. Some of the products that have been introduced and are now very successful are IQF potato shreds (hash browns), frozen baked potatoes, dehydrated potato slices, dices and shreds, frozen mashed potatoes, frozen potato wedges and non-fried potato products such as oven and microwave fries.
