Retail promotion directors for the Idaho Potato Commission are used to being road warriors. They’re also used to doing whatever it takes to get retailers what they need. So when much of the country abruptly shut down for Covid last spring, the IPC promotion directors were fully prepared to switch gears, working from home to ensure retailers could continue to provide Idaho potatoes to their customers.

And thanks to IPC’s immediate actions in early March, the potatoes kept moving, said IPC president and CEO Frank Muir.

Helping retailers leverage data for better category management is an important mission for the Idaho Potato Commission in any year. In 2020, that mission became even more essential as retailers encountered the ups and downs of the new pandemic-driven marketplace.

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl has become one of the most anticipated college football games of the season. From helping to launch the careers of NFL great like Josh Allen and BYU’s Zack Wilson, who threw 18 for 18 in 2018 beginning his historic rise as a must-watch quarterback, to the French Fry bath tradition that has been recognized by Yahoo! Sports “as one of the best traditions in all of sports,” the FIPB is exciting, unpredictable and entertaining.

Whether lounging by the pool or luxuriating in a spa treatment, the 2021 sweepstakes winner for the Idaho Potato Lovers Display Contest will be able to savor some well-earned R&R. Everyone who enters the Idaho Potato Commission’s 30th annual retail display competition will be part of a random drawing for a trip for two to world-renowned Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa in Arizona.

This holiday season family gatherings will look a little different than past years. A survey conducted by the research firm Morning Consult found that 47 percent of families say they will cancel holiday get-togethers. Almost half say they will shift from in-person celebrations to virtual.

As with so many other produce industry events, the annual Big Idaho Potato Harvest Meeting went virtual this year. Held Thursday, Nov. 12, the meeting zoomed in on the industry’s response to market disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.