“Thanksgiving is always the biggest holiday we have — sweet potato sales go through the roof,” said David Bradley, director of business development for Nash Produce, based in Nashville, NC. “But Christmas is a very solid mover for us. We’ll gear up a week or two before Christmas and will see an uptick in volume for that.”

Beyond the sales spurred on by holiday get-togethers with friends and family, distributors like Nash Produce, as well as the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, support efforts to expand demand throughout the year.

“Sweet potatoes have always been known as a seasonal, holiday food,” Bradley said. “People are always going to buy them this time of the year.

“But the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission has done a fantastic job to promote sweet potatoes as a non-seasonal product,” he said.

Easter Sunday is the third-highest occasion for families to buy and prepare sweet potato dishes.

Bradley said that it’s common for produce department managers to see sales rise again in late December and early January, as consumers stock up on healthy foods as part of New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better and exercise.

“In January, people are more health conscious, starting the new year off as a healthier version of themselves,” Bradley said, adding that National Sweetpotato Month (February), is followed by National Nutrition Month in March. “So, customers are more geared toward that health-conscious decision in the grocery store.”

With changing consumer preferences and an emphasis on convenience, sweet potato growers and shippers have expanded beyond bulk product shipped in boxes. Single-serve microwaveable sweet potatoes and steamer bags have become popular.

Equipment upgrades allow shippers to sort based on specific customers and packaging options.

“We have an electric sizer and grader in our facility, and that helps us grade really tight,” Bradley said. “If we have a foodservice business, or any customers with specs, we have the ability to get any size spec that they want.”

Fingerlings can be isolated and packed in steamer bags on the line, or uniform size and shape sweet potatoes can be separated and tray-wrapped as well, he said.

The North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission offers recipes to help consumers learn how to prepare them throughout the year, beyond mashed and topped with marshmallows.

“I do think it helps increase consumption overall because consumers realize they can incorporate sweet potatoes more into their everyday lifestyle and eating regimen,” Bradley said. 

This season is dramatically different than the 2024-2025 crop year, when about a third of the crop was lost to storms damage that flooded fields. This season, which ended with a dry period, is not having a size, yield, quality or other issue, Bradley said.

Nash Produce was able to satisfy regular customer accounts throughout the season, but National Sweet Potato Month promotions were curtailed, to ensure the supplies held until the new crop potatoes were harvested.

“It was a unique year,” he said. “And people who have been in the industry have said they haven’t really seen a year like that in a really long time. Last year was anomaly, and this year we have a pretty average (size/yield) crop.”