There is a cost to acquiring, analyzing, and implementing the data relating to potato markets. Until now, these costs have been borne by United’s growers. Corporations that supply potato growers with everything from potato handling equipment, to tractors, to field chemicals and fertilizers, irrigation equipment, and packing and packaging equipment can now, through a carefully structured program, offset the cost of the database nationally and regionally.

Q 2: Why form a strategic alliance between UPGA growers and crop input manufacturers?   

A: A strategic alliance is an agreement among organizations that aims toward a common objective. The objective that a potato grower has in common with a crop-input manufacturer is that each party wishes to survive and thrive in the potato business. Profitability for each party depends upon the value each can derive from dealing with the other.

Q 3: Can each grower continue with a local retailer of their choice even though United has a relationship with a particular manufacturer at the national level?

A: The advent of United Potato Partners does not mean that the local retailer/grower relationship goes away. The grower can rest assured of his freedom to obtain the best possible value from his local retailer while United engages manufacturers at the national level.

Millions are spent annually to advertise products to a very narrow group of growers. Is that the most effective use of an advertising budget? Can relationships between manufacturers and growers take a more effective form? The United Potato Partners Program answers these questions in a positive way.

Q 4: Manufacturers and retailers constantly review their marketing channels to assure effectiveness. Can that process be improved by including UPGA in a manufacturer’s marketing strategy?

A: Few processes cannot be improved. The access of a manufacturer to a grower is one of those processes. No tighter relationship exists than a grower to his profitability. UPGA has gained the ear of 80% of potato growers in both the U.S. and Canada by providing them with market intelligence that has improved profitability. To see a manufacturer as a partner in bringing about that sea-change in grower economics greatly increases the level of confidence and trust a grower will place in the supporting manufacturer and his products.

Q 5: Can you give an example of the kinds of savings a grower can expect from the strategic alliance?

A: United Potato Partners is neither a rebate program nor a discount program. It is a premium program. While the participation of a manufacturer as a United Potato Partner may not always lower crop inputs, the real value for the grower is found in the willingness of a manufacturer to fund UPGA’s market database, the database that can make growing potatoes a business with sustainable profitability.  

Q 6: Can you give an example of how a manufacturer can benefit by being endorsed by UPGA?

A: A manufacturer that signs a licensing agreement for endorsement by UPGA gets an immediate inside track for promoting products to growers. An endorsed manufacturer can provide product incentives and introduce new products at will through a constant and direct link to growers. A manufacturer can accumulate pertinent grower data only available within the confines of the licensing agreement, an access unavailable to competitors. Enhanced communication options for a manufacturer include: High visibility on UPGA’s website (www.unitedpotatousa.com), an enterprise website visited weekly by leaders of the potato industry in all key growing areas. A manufacturer will also reap the rewards of high visibility and constant presence in UPGA’s monthly newsletter, in annual grower meetings, and from being couched as the ‘supplier of preference’ in ancillary grower communications.

Q 7: What is the future of the United Potato Partners Program?

A: Potato production in the U.S. is concentrated in the hands of 3,600 (U.S. Potato Board) growers, a number that has been halved in the last 15 years. Potato-grower per-acre inputs are very high. This places enormous purchasing power in the hands of increasingly fewer producers. The access channel to communicate with this group is narrow and narrowing. Additionally, potatoes are not the only crop potato growers produce. Taking into account all rotational crops, the manufacturer with products additional to those required for potatoes finds a ready market for those products also, and a similar opportunity to promote them. Through the United Potato Partners Program, the manufacturer truly becomes the grower’s partner in achieving success.