Potato sales have increased as shoppers stock up on staples.

Domestic sales of potatoes in the marketing year that ended June 30 dropped by 4.3% in volume as foodservice activity declined during the pandemic.

Potatoes USA reported retail sales were down 0.4% for the Marketing Year 2021 to 15.5 billion pounds in fresh weight equivalent, even though the year-earlier period saw substantial stocking up amid COVID-19 stay-at home orders and other restrictions.

In 2020, the retail total was 15.6 billion pounds; in 2019, the retail total was 14.4 billion pounds.

Foodservice sales, however, dropped 7.7% to 16.4 billion pounds in fresh weight equivalent. Foodservice accounted for 51% of domestic volume in 2021 compared to 53% in 2020 and 58% to 59% from 2016 to 2019.

Exports increased 4% for the 2021 marketing year despite uncertainties in international markets and “the extreme problems with international shipping,” Potatoes USA said in a release.

A 4% reduction in dehydrated potato product exports was more than offset by gains of 9% for fresh potatoes, 10% for chips and 2% for frozen products.

Potatoes USA Chief Marketing Officer John Toaspern said in an interview that retail sales in July, August and September remain strong, and are above pre-pandemic levels.

He said foodservice business was recovering recently but subsequently slowed by concerns about the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Sales of fried potato products “have stayed very strong over the summer,” Toaspern said. “And another bright spot has been the beyond-restaurant sector, which has begun to recover.”

The category includes event venues, theme parks, hotel and other travel facilities, and schools. Fried potato products traditionally dominate the entertainment sector while schools demand fresh, dehydrated and fried potatoes.

“So while the restaurant sector is not recovering as well as we would have liked given the impacts of the Delta variant and labor shortages, overall we still see very strong demand for potatoes at the beginning of this marketing year,” Toaspern said.

But that strong demand could exceed the domestic supply, leading to more imports, he said. For the U.S. crop now being harvested, “in particular, the frozen processors may have underestimated their acreage needs for this year.”

Potatoes USA said tight supplies in the marketing year, especially those grown for frozen processing, drove a 12% increase in total imports.

The organization said that for Marketing Year 2021 U.S-grown potatoes accounted for 40% of the frozen processing supply, 25% of the fresh supply, 23% of the chip supply and 7% of the dehydrated potato production — which experienced “tight raw product supplies and serious labor issues at the plants.”

Though a 20-year trend for more sales to go through foodservice was reversed in the past two years, “it is expected that foodservice will begin to account for an ever-greater share, though not right away,” Potatoes USA said.