The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) is a self governing agency of the State of Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 that was established in 1937 as the Idaho Fruit and Vegetable Advertising Commission. It has many responsibilities, but its primary responsibility is to promote the Idaho potato through advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

, public relations

Public relations

Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

, promotions and other marketing

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 initiatives. It also supports research to help expand the market for Idaho potato

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

es.

Overview

Since its inception, the commission, which is one of the oldest commodity organizations in the US&A, has been a trailblazer on many fronts. One of its greatest achievements was the use of broadcast advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 -- on radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 and later television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 – when this type of marketing was in its infancy. In addition, the commission introduced the “Grown in Idaho” seal

Seal (device)

A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...

 in 1959 to help elevate the visibility of Idaho potatoes and has become a symbol consumers actively look for when purchasing potato products. It's for these reasons that the Idaho potato is the best selling potato and is one of the most recognized and respected brand names in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The Idaho potato industry contributes approximately $2.7 billion to the Idaho economy

Economy

An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...

, harvests approximately 13 billion pounds annually, produces roughly one-third of all the potatoes grown in the United States and employs 39,000 state residents. Additionally, many license plates in Idaho contain the phrase "Famous Potatoes".

The commissioners serve in the capacity of a board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 and hire a CEO to administer staff and carry out the programs it approves each crop year. The current executive /government affairs, and retail/international. In addition, an executive secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

 serves the commission and keeps appropriate minutes, is custodian of records, and provides legal notification of meetings.

The vice president of foodservice has a field component of three foodservice promotion directors, which he supervises along with his overall foodservice advertising and promotion activities. They make weekly calls on foodservice distributors and wholesalers to set up promotional activities and provide printed materials featuring Idaho potatoes. They also attend trade shows with the vice president of foodservice. The VP of foodservice personally sets up operator promotional activities.

The vice president of legal and government affairs handles all the licensing activities of the commission and monitors compliance activities related to the proper usage of the registered certification

Certification

Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...

 and trademarks of the commission. He oversees governmental activities on both the state and national level that relate to IPC interest.

The vice president of retail and international handles retail promotion activities, and sets up corporate promotion while his field staff of four retail promotion directors call on division and store level people in the retail stores to set up Idaho potato promotions. Their calls are made on retail

Retail

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

ers, produce wholesale

Wholesale

Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...

rs and licensed repackers that are located in their assigned territories. They set up co-op advertising programs on a quarterly basis and monitor the produce departments for proper use of the commission's registered certification marks.

The commission contracts with outside agencies for professional services when warranted for consumer, foodservice and retail advertising, promotion and public relations programs.