BELARUS -  Belarusian scientists have just finished a nine-year breeding process that could soon bring pink and blue potatoes to the produce aisle. According to Ivan Kalyadka, head of the Research Centre for Potato Cultivation and Horticulture at the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, the new potatoes preserve the hearty taste of traditional white-yellow potatoes, while offering customers a whole new color palette to choose from when designing their dishes.

According to BBC, the new potatoes are slated to be used in a variety of dishes in the food industry with plans to incorporate them into everything from chips to instant mashed potatoes. First however they will have to finish their current rounds of state testing.

Once they are released to the market it will be interesting to see how these new potato varieties effect consumer purchasing decisions. A study conducted by Rajesh Bagchi, Associate Professor of Marketing in the Pamplin College of Business, and Amar Cheema, from the University of Virginia, showed that in the retail environment the color blue tended to correlate with a higher willingness-to-buy.

“Because these consumers were also only competing with the seller, purchase likelihoods were lower with red backgrounds compared to blue, indicating that their willingness to pay may have been lower,” Bagchi told writers at VirginiaTech.

It's too soon to tell whether a feature backdrop of blue potatoes might spur increased spending in the retail aisle. I'll be certainly be paying attention however.  

I'll have to send Mr. Kalyadka an email asking if he can cook up some orange and black potatoes in time for next year's baseball season. The Giants are famous for their garlic fries after all you know.