Excerpts from the report: Instant sweetpotato flakes, a recently developed product, have several characteristics that are expected to increase the market for sweetpotatoes: (1) Sweetpotato flakes can be made from sweetpotatoes that are unsuitable for marketing fresh or for canning because of appearance, size, or shape rather than lack of soundness or nutritive value. A substantial part of the production frequently is of this condition. (2) The product requires little preparation before serving. (3) Transportation and handling costs are lower for flakes than for fresh or canned sweetpotatoes because of differences in weight and bulk. (4) Fresh sweetpotatoes are highly perishable, a characteristic not shared by sweetpotato flakes. Also, fresh flavor retention by the flakes is considered superior to that of other presently available processed forms of sweetpotatoes. An institutional market test showed highly favorable reactions to instant sweetpotato flakes by restaurant operators and chefs. The Economic Research Service initiated preliminary research to assess the retail market potential for the new product.
