2026 Potato Expo: Location, Dates, and What to Expect at the NPC's Annual Event

What is the Potato Expo?

The Potato Expo is the largest annual potato industry event in North America, produced by the National Potato Council (NPC). NPC is the Washington DC-based trade association representing US potato growers and the broader potato industry, founded in 1948, with member state organisations across major producing states — Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Maine, Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota among them.

The Expo is held annually in mid-January at major US convention cities, rotating venues year over year. Recent host cities include Las Vegas, Anaheim, Orlando, and Austin. The two-day program format is consistent across years:

• Trade show floor — ~150–200 exhibitors covering equipment (Grimme, AVR, John Deere), seed (multiple US seed companies), agrochemicals, irrigation systems, storage technology, packaging, and food-service buyers.
• Educational sessions — multi-track program: agronomy & production, marketing & consumer trends, policy & trade, sustainability, processing technology.
• Networking events — opening reception, state-association breakfasts, awards luncheon.
• Industry awards — recognising grower excellence, innovation, leadership.

Where is the 2026 Potato Expo?

Potato Expo 2026 was held in mid-January 2026, following NPC's standard annual schedule. NPC announces specific venue 6–9 months in advance and maintains program archives at npcspud.com. For confirmed location, on-demand session recordings, and exhibitor listings from the 2026 event, the NPC official site is the authoritative source. Looking forward, Potato Expo 2027 dates and venue are typically published mid-2026 through NPC channels.

If you missed the Expo, NPC typically posts session recordings, slide decks, and trade-show exhibitor directories within 4–6 weeks of the event. State potato commission sites (Idaho Potato Commission, Washington State Potato Commission, Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association) also publish post-Expo summaries with key takeaways for their grower memberships.

Who attends and what's the agenda?

Attendee profile (typical Expo year, ~2,000 attendees):

• Growers and farm operations — from small family farms to multi-state operations like R.D. Offutt, Wada Farms, Sterman Masser. See our largest US potato farms article.
• Processors — Lamb Weston, McCain Foods, J.R. Simplot, Cavendish, Frito-Lay, Idahoan Foods, Cavendish — both as exhibitors and buyers.
• Equipment manufacturers — Grimme, AVR, Dewulf, John Deere, Spudnik, Mayo, Tomra (sorting), Storage Control Systems.
• Seed companies — multiple US seed-potato producers from Maine, Colorado, Idaho, Wisconsin, Michigan.
• Agrochemical and biological inputs — Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva, BASF, regional input distributors.
• Government and trade associations — USDA representatives, NPC staff, state commissions, Potatoes USA (export marketing).
• Foodservice and retail buyers — chain restaurant procurement, supermarket category managers.
• Media and analysts — trade press (Potato Grower, Spudman), market analysts.

Typical session tracks: production agronomy (variety trials, irrigation, disease management); marketing and consumer trends; sustainability and ESG (water, carbon, regenerative); processing innovations; trade and tariff outlook; legal and labour policy.

History of past Potato Expos

NPC has produced the Expo annually since the late 1940s in various formats. The modern multi-day trade-show format consolidated in the 2000s. Recent Expo host cities (publicly documented through NPC archives):

• Mid-2010s and later: rotation among Las Vegas (Bally's, Mandalay Bay), Anaheim (Anaheim Convention Center), Orlando (Hyatt Regency, Orange County Convention Center), Austin (JW Marriott).
• The selection criteria favour large convention venues with hotel capacity for 2,000+ attendees, accessibility from US potato-producing states, and competitive convention pricing.

Specific year-by-year historical venues are best confirmed through the NPC archive. The pattern is consistent: mid-January, US, major convention city, two-day intensive program.

Potato Expo vs World Potato Congress vs Global Potato Summit

Three different events, three different missions:

Potato Expo (NPC, USA) — annual, US-focused, industry/commerce orientation. Trade show + sessions + networking. ~2,000 attendees. The premier US industry gathering.

World Potato Congress (WPC) — triennial historically, biennial since 2022, global rotation, research/policy/trade orientation. The 13th WPC is in Naivasha, Kenya, 26–30 October 2026 — the first time WPC is held in Africa. Hosted by the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) and FreshCrop Limited under the theme “Global Potato Partnership for Enhanced Food Systems, Nutrition Security and Trade.” Expected 1,000+ delegates from 60+ countries. Abstract deadline May 20, 2026; early registration July 1, 2026. After Kenya, WPC 2028 is in Ghent, Belgium. Official site: wpc2026kenya.com.

Global Potato Summit / India Potato Summit — biennial, India-based at CPRI Gwalior. Stronger research and South Asian / tropical potato focus.

Major US processors and exporters typically attend Expo + WPC; researchers attend WPC + EAPR (European Association for Potato Research, triennial) + APPC (Asia Pacific Potato Conference). Equipment manufacturers attend Expo + Potato Europe (annual outdoor field-day in NL/BE/DE/FR/UK) + Interpom (biennial in Kortrijk, Belgium).

Global potato events calendar 2026–2027

Sources: National Potato Council (npcspud.com); World Potato Congress Inc. (potatocongress.org); EAPR (eapr.net); Potato Europe; Interpom Kortrijk; APPC; CPRI India.

For background on the global industry the events serve, see our global potato trade article, top producing countries, largest US farms, and processing industry guide. Country profiles for Expo / WPC host nations: USA, Netherlands, Belgium, India, Peru.