“The real highlight every year,” and again this year, of the Idaho Potato Commission’s foodservice promotional programs, “is our Chef’s Calendar,” said Don Odiorne, vice president o foodservice for the commission, in an interview with The Produce News Aug. 28. “We are just going through the process of selecting 12 chefs to work with” who will be featured, along with their recipes, in the 2015 calendar.

One of the chefs who will be featured in the calendar this year is John Besh, owner of eight restaurants, either in southern Louisiana or featuring the region’s cuisine. “I had the opportunity to meet with him when a group of corporate chefs came to New Orleans and went to his restaurant,” said Odiorne. “He is just a tremendous supporter of Idaho potatoes, so having him featured in the calendar is something wonderful.”

Another major emphasis this year is working with foodservice chains to help them improve the profitability of side dishes incorporating Idaho potatoes as their beef, pork and chicken prices are going up, Odiorne said. “One of our programs is to get people changing the appetizers and the side dishes to focus more on potatoes and the profitability of the potato, especially as their protein costs are increasing.”

An emerging trend in foodservice is concepts focusing on menus with potato-centric recipes, he said. One example is Potatopia, which features an assortment of potato styles with a variety of toppings. At Potatopia, the menu is “all about potatoes,” whether it be baked or mashed or french fry-cut or another form. “It is using that potato as a pallet that is such a nice neutral acceptor of all these different ethnic toppings and flavor, and actually making that a concept.”

Another example is “a place called Potato Flats” that has just recently been opened up in the Dallas area by Phil Romano, “the same guy that created the Macaroni Grill and Fuddruckers,” Odiorne said. The Potato Flats concept is to bake a potato, “then flatten it on a panini press, so you get a mashed potato inside and a crispy outside, and then the toppings on top of that.”

A key part of the commission’s foodservice programs is the activities of the field staff, Odiorne said. “Their primary focus is to call on foodservice distributors.” Beyond working with them on their current needs, “a secondary focus that we have with them is to build the future of potatoes,” so the field staff schedule seminars with distributor sales representatives “to talk about Idaho potatoes and how to incorporate those into the menu.”

On its website, the Idaho Potato Commission has created a section called All Things Potatoes as a resource on product information and usage. Currently, the section contains recommended recipes in five categories: All Things Au Gratin Potatoes, All Things Baked Potatoes, All Things Mashed Potatoes, All Things Potato Salads and All Things French Fried Potatoes.

Yet another focus of the commission’s foodservice team, also oriented to the future, is making presentations at culinary schools. Armand Lobato, who represents the commission in the western region, is particularly active in that regard, Odiorne said. With 250,000 culinary students, “if we can reach them” through the culinary teachers at the beginning stages of their careers, “we will have that Influence for the rest of their lives.”