Market Test of Instant Sweetpotatoes in Selected Institutional Outlets

Excerpts from the report: The sweetpotato industry has experienced a steady decline in per capita consumption of sweetpotatoes over the last 20 years. In 1941 per capita consumption of sweetpotatoes amounted to 18.8 pounds; by 1961 this had declined to 6.8 pounds. Acreage harvested decreased almost three-fourths from 1941 to 1961. Despite an average increase of about 60 percent in yield per acre, total production dropped from 39 million hundredweight in 1934-37 to less than 17 million in 1958-61. The Southern Regional Research Laboratory undertook research to develop instant sweetpotato flakes following the successful development of white potato flakes by the Eastern Regional Research Laboratory, It was expected that the development of an instant sweetpotato flake would provide an outlet for a substantial volume of production which currently is unmarketable, and would permit growing the crop for maximum yield. The major objectives of the institutional test for instant sweetpotato flakes were; (1 ) to determine the extent of prior use of sweetpotatoes, (2) to determine the particular ways in which sweetpotatoes have been used, (3) to have sample institutions prepare and serve recipes using the instant sweetpotato flakes, (4) to determine the reactions of the institutional owners-managers or cooks to the new product, and (5) to determine the reactions of customers in the institutions to the new product.