Customize your IPC retail display contest
Customize your IPC retail display contest
In the doldrums of winter, produce departments can be a bright spot of colorful entries in the Idaho Potato Lovers Display Contest, sponsored each February-March by the Idaho Potato Commission.
The imaginative floor displays are the end result of a planning process that begins with retail category managers, who work to ensure their stores participate and reap the full benefits of the promotion. IPC’s Category Manager Match Program acknowledges the important role these managers play in pulling it all together: When a store is a 1st through 5th place winner, the category manager also receives the equivalent in prizes, including a chance to win one of the three grand prize sweepstakes packages. It’s a win-win for everyone involved, category managers agreed.
“We have been participating in the contest more than 20 years,” said Leigh Vaughn, director of produce and floral for Associated Food Stores, a cooperative of nearly 450 grocers based in Salt Lake City, UT. “Our headquarters are close to Idaho, and we have many stores actually in Idaho, so it’s an easy fit for our stores to promote Idaho potato products — not only russets but also reds and yellows.”
Justin Rowe, produce category business manager for Northeast Shared Services, based in Schenectady, NY, said he appreciates the frequent contest help from IPC retail promotion director Matt Zapczynski with point-of-sale materials, photo submissions and questions that come up at the stores.
“Having done the contest for many years, it doesn’t really take much to get the stores excited,” said Rowe, whose company supports nearly 300 Price Chopper, Market 32, and Tops Friendly Markets stores. “Once we get the flyers out to the stores, they take it from there. They know the drill and really get behind the contest.”
“Our sales team works with each store to assist in each and every event,” added Tony Clements, operations manager for Babbs Supermarket, which has two stores in Spencer, IN. “It’s fun and engaging for both us and our retailers.”
Few other commodities sponsor display contests that include both produce managers and category managers, said Ross Johnson, IPC vice president of retail, but IPC has always believed that successful promotions should be rewarded as a team effort. “Everyone benefits when a store has a great Idaho potato display, and everyone deserves public acknowledgement for their efforts,” said Johnson.
Spreading the word
Backed up by ongoing hands-on support from IPC retail promotion directors, category managers said they like to get the ball rolling as early as possible for each year’s contest.
“After talking with [our IPC retail promotion director Mark Daniels] and understanding the contest, we communicate it to each produce manager, along with the store manager,” said Eddie Frye, director of produce for 38-store United Grocery Outlet, based in Athens, TN. “We have some managers that will start planning eight months in advance. They will start to build different parts of the display and make the signs weeks before the contest starts, so that the day the display goes up, everything will be ready to go.”
After the contest ends, said Frye, “we share photos of the displays at managers’ meetings and produce meetings, which helps boost morale and encourages future participation. It is all about showing them that you can win, you will get great prizes just for building your display, and you will boost your sales.”
At Fresh Encounter, contest planning each year starts with an announcement email that goes out to the chain’s 49 stores, featuring photos of past winners, said Dave Rhodes, who recently retired as director of produce and floral for the Findlay, OH-based company. “We have been involved with the contest for many years — it is a great opportunity for our produce managers to show off their creative skills, and we get a lot of positive customer comments,” said Rhodes.
Staying involved to ensure that displays are on track is important too, said Jon Holder, vice president of produce for Superior Grocers, based in Santa Fe Springs, CA, with 73 stores. Holder utilizes the company’s five district produce specialists to follow up with produce managers on their contest entries.
“[When I was] a produce manager, I always loved participating in merchandising contests,” said Holder. “It allows the department managers and employees to be creative and be a bit competitive. In our market here in Southern California, we know it takes a lot to rise above the stiff competition, Potato Lovers Month allows Superior Grocers to stand out.”
An extra layer of competition
Some retailers supplement the IPC contest with their own in-house Idaho potato display contest to boost employees’ chances to win prizes while generating interest and enthusiasm for the displays.
Rhodes said his company’s internal retail display contest, for example, offers the entire produce team, the assistant store manager and the store manager opportunities for Fresh Encounter gift card awards. “It gets to be really competitive and really makes it hard to judge the pictures to come up with the winners,” said Rhodes.
Associated Food Stores’ Vaughn said in addition to working with two major potato growers and IPC retail promotion director Patrick Mills to promote the national contest, “we also run a contest internally, so that becomes a second chance for stores to win.”
“In 2025, we had six grand prize winners [internally] and six more winners under that,” said Vaughn. “We took the grand prize winners to Idaho to see a growing area and do some fun things as well, like driving a potato harvester.”
“We organize an internal contest for our produce management team, offering cash prizes for the best displays,” said Pete Barretta, produce category manager for Abingdon, VA-based K-VA-T Food Stores, which has 152 retail outlets including 131 Food City locations. “During the [national IPC display contest] campaign period, we run exclusively Idaho-themed advertisements. We are proud supporters of Idaho potatoes, and the contest allows us to engage our produce team and customers in promoting and purchasing Idaho potatoes.”
If you’d like to learn more about getting involved in the 2026 Idaho Potato Lovers Display Contest, visit www.idahopotato.com/retail to have a retail promotion director build a custom program for your stores.
