What’s Cooking: Idaho® Potato Lovers 2024 Retail Display Contest Fires up Deluxe Grill Prizes for Sweepstakes Winners

All entrants receive a free BBQ grill tool kit. The three retail display grand prize winners will take home a Potato Lover's BBQ Package, which includes a Traeger Pro wood pellet grill, a full-length grill cover, a Meater block thermometer accessory, and a $250 Traeger gift card.  

Eagle, ID, January 16, 2024 – For the first time ever, the Idaho® Potato Lovers retail display contest will award three grand prizes in 2024: Each lucky random sweepstake winner will take home a high-end Traeger meat smoker and complete smoking kit.

“As the Idaho Potato Commission contest becomes more popular every year, we wanted to reward more produce managers for all of the time and effort they put into promoting Idaho potatoes,” says Ross Johnson, IPC vice president of retail and international. “So this year, we will be doing a sweepstakes drawing in each region of the country, giving entrants an even better chance of winning a grand prize.”

The Potato Lover’s BBQ package grand prize includes a Traeger Pro wood pellet grill, a full-length grill cover, a Meater block thermometer accessory, and a $250 Traeger gift card. With Traeger’s WiFIRE technology, home chefs can monitor and control their grill from anywhere using the Traeger app, and the powerful D2 controller maintains precise temperatures to deliver maximum wood-fired flavor. The smoker also features a meat probe, porcelain-coated grill grates, all-terrain wheels, locking caster wheels, and easy hopper cleanout.

In addition, the sweepstakes winner’s category manager will also receive a Potato Lover’s BBQ package grand prize.

“Our goal is to unleash produce managers’ creativity, just as potatoes allow consumers to get creative in their kitchens,” says Johnson. “The Idaho® Potato Lovers contest has become something that produce managers all over the country love—it’s an opportunity for them to do something different from what they do every day as they run their departments.”

ll entrants in the 33rd annual IPC retail display contest, who will compete for more than $150,000 in cash and prizes, will receive a free BBQ grill tool kit just for entering. The sturdy aluminum storage case holds a stainless steel spatula, BBQ fork, meat knife, grill tongs, basting brush, eight corn holders, grill cleaning brush, and four steak knives.

Produce departments win during the contest too, says Johnson, thanks to higher sales driven by eye-catching secondary displays during what is traditionally a slower sales period of the year. IPC research has found that test stores with secondary displays of Idaho russets deliver a nearly 10 times growth advantage, while comparison stores with no secondary displays achieve an average category growth of only 2.5 percent. Johnson adds that secondary displays of any size can generate winning results – it’s creativity that counts with both customers and IPC retail display contest judges.

The Idaho® Potato Lovers Display Contest runs from Feb. 1 through April 15, 2024. Retailers can participate by building an attractive and memorable display in the produce department that incorporates fresh Idaho® potatoes (bag, bulk or both) with a clear label showing the Idaho name and the “Grown in Idaho®” seal, along with a clearly marked Idaho dehydrated potato product. (Displays may not include potato products from other states.) The display must be up in the store’s produce section for at least one week during the contest period.

The display must also use IPC 2024 special themed point-of-sale materials: two double-sided Idaho® Potato Lovers logo display signs, one large and two small double-sided signs featuring an appetizing photo, and three inflatable Mylar™ Idaho® potato balloons. For more point-of-sale clip art and delicious recipes, go to the Idaho® potato website: idahopotato.com/retail.

Display entries can be any size but are limited to one per store. Retailers will compete with other same-size stores in one of three categories: 1-5 cash registers, 6-9 cash registers, or 10-plus cash registers. Within each store category, entrants are eligible to win these prizes:

•    1st place – $1,500
•    2nd place – $1,000
•    3rd place – $750
•    4th place – $500
•    5th place – $250
•    Honorable Mention – $100 (100 selected from remaining entries)

The Category Manager Match Program will award equivalent prizes to corporate category managers for stores that qualify for a 1st through 5th place prize, including a chance to win one of the three Traeger grand prizes. 

Idaho® Potato Lovers Display Contest Details
Here’s how to enter the 2024 Idaho® Potato Lovers Display Contest:

1. Using fresh Idaho® potatoes (bag, bulk or both) and an Idaho® dehydrated potato product, develop an eye-catching display following the contest rules (available at idahopotato.com/retail).

2. Put up the display in your store’s produce section for at least one week between Feb. 1 and April 15, 2024.

3. Submit up to five photos of the display (taken with a good camera on its highest-quality photo setting) and an entry form (available at idahopotato.com/retail) to the IPC so that it’s received no later than April 15, 2024. Top winners will be notified by June 1, 2024, and all winners will be posted by June 15, 2024, on idahopotato.com/retail.

All entries will be judged on a point system based on creativity of the display, salability of the display, and Idaho® Potato Lovers Display Contest signage.

About The Idaho Potato Commission

Established in 1937, the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) is a state agency responsible for promoting and protecting the famous “Grown in Idaho®” seal, a federally registered certification mark that assures consumers they are purchasing genuine, top-quality Idaho® potatoes. Idaho’s growing season of warm days and cool nights, ample mountain-fed irrigation and rich volcanic soil give Idaho® potatoes their unique texture, taste and dependable performance. These ideal growing conditions are what differentiates Idaho® potatoes from potatoes grown in other states. For more information, visit www.idahopotato.com.