Current UCUI
68/100
Moderate-High Uncertainty
+4 points from prior reading
Potato Market Intelligence
Potato Supplier Price Variance
Potato supplier price variance is the gap between a supplier's price and a peer, budget, or matched benchmark after commercial differences are normalized. MassGain separates regional potato basis from specification, freight, service, and contract timing so procurement can identify the portion that is structural and the portion that remains unexplained.
Market Data
How to read this market
Potato supplier price variance is the gap between a supplier's price and another supplier, budget, or matched market benchmark after differences in region, product, contract timing, freight, specification, and service are normalized. The market object is the residual difference after comparable physical and commercial bases are established.
MassGain provides regional potato benchmarks and historical spreads that help procurement separate market-driven variance from conversion, logistics, specification, and supplier-specific commercial effects.
Data Module
Supplier price variance context
Reference pricepeer, budget, or matched benchmark
Regional basissupplier plant and sourcing market
Specificationproduct, yield, and quality differences
Freight and servicedelivered-value adjustments
Historical spreadnormal supplier differential
Decision useexplain, challenge, or preserve the variance
Analysis
Why this matters
A higher supplier price is not automatically poor performance. Tight regional exposure, better recovery, shorter freight, or stronger service can justify part of the gap, while a persistent premium after those factors are normalized deserves further review.
MassGain helps identify which portion of the variance is structural and which remains unexplained. That prevents procurement from switching suppliers for headline savings that disappear once total usable economics are considered.
Signal 01
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index
UCUI translates crop and market complexity into a simple uncertainty signal. Higher readings indicate greater uncertainty—not necessarily higher prices.
Understand uncertainty. Anticipate risk. Act earlier.
UCUI is designed to analyze potato-industry publications and data signals across regions, varieties, weather, disease, storage, supply, and demand.
WeatherHigh
DiseaseHigh
StorageMedium
SupplyMedium
Single-day snapshot based on a scan of 11,500+ web and social signals. Get historical and real-time data by clicking the button below.
The MassGain Daily
Today’s market analysis.
A daily editorial synthesis of physical potato data, crop signals, market reporting, and what participants should watch next.
September 10, 2026Latest MassGain publication
Potato prices quiet at $30/cwt as regional harvest damage buzzes beneath the surface
Market indicators are stable, but reporting from Europe and select growing areas shows real, localized crop stress — a reminder that steady headline prices can mask uneven physical risk.
Signal 02
MassGain Potato Index
Independent physical-pricing intelligence and market-trend analysis for procurement, forecasting, contracting, and scenario planning.
Core Russet Carton Median
312.45 USD/MT
Latest qualifying physical-market observation
+4.75 (+1.55%)
Price discovery for the physical potato market
MPI is designed to track physical pricing data, price trends, deltas, and divergences across regions and potato types.
Series window45 days
Current public coverageCore russet cartons
Primary source basisQualifying USDA physical rows
UnitUSD per metric tonne
Single-day snapshot based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varieties by clicking the button below.
Signal 03
MassGain Spot Reference
An independent spot reference designed for price discovery, contract discussions, procurement comparisons, and risk modeling.
Russet Burbank — U.S. Midsize
305 USD/MT
Demonstration reference format
+1.6% WoW · Confidence: High
A trusted benchmark for pricing, contracts, and risk
MSR is intended to use real transactions and verifiable physical-market data to support negotiations, price checks, contracting, and risk models.
ProductRusset Burbank
SpecificationU.S. midsize, 40–70 count
Reference typePhysical spot benchmark
StatusIn development
Based on most recent 45 days worth of data. Limited to US Russets only. Get more complete, global data about all varities by clicking the button below. Full access also includes historical data -- including depreciated NYMEX/CBOE/EEX spot references -- projections, trends, and AI-driven insights.
The MassGain Product Ladder
From insight to intelligence to action
Four integrated products built for the physical potato market, delivered through public pages, reports, exports, dashboards, and API access.
1
Content
Original research, commentary, aggregated news, and market updates.
- What matters right now?
- What is happening out there?
2
UCUI™
Usable Crop Uncertainty Index: an AI-powered signal of crop risk and market uncertainty.
- Understand uncertainty
- Anticipate risk
- Act earlier
3
MPI™
MassGain Potato Index: independent physical-pricing intelligence and trend analysis.
- Price discovery
- Regional trends
- Procurement planning
4
MSR™
MassGain Spot Reference: an independent benchmark for price discovery and risk modeling.
- Contracts
- Negotiations
- Risk models
Content + UCUI + MPI + MSR + API access
Get historical series, regional detail, constituent data, exports, alerts, and direct data access.
Overview
Who is this for?
This is for QSR and restaurant procurement teams investigating why one potato supplier’s price differs from another supplier, from budget, or from a relevant market benchmark. Potato supplier price variance analysis separates the gap into observable drivers such as regional raw-potato movement, contract reset timing, product specification, processing, oil, packaging, freight, service, and supplier-specific commercial spread. MassGain’s potato data suite provides the matched regional benchmarks and physical-market context needed to determine whether the variance is expected, temporary, or commercially actionable.
A raw price comparison can be misleading. One supplier may operate in a tight storage region, provide a higher-yield product, or include freight and service that another quote excludes. Conversely, a supplier’s invoice may remain elevated after its potato market and freight costs have eased. MassGain maps each plant to its sourcing basin and contract period, normalizes units and delivery basis, and compares current and historical spreads. This lets procurement isolate market-driven variance from specification, operational, or negotiation effects.
The analysis supports supplier scorecards, budget reviews, sourcing events, volume-allocation decisions, and price challenges. Teams can quantify the financial impact of each driver and prioritize only the gaps that can realistically be addressed. MassGain does not reveal private margins or prove that every unexplained variance is excess profit. It provides a disciplined framework for asking why prices diverge, documenting the answer, and deciding whether to renegotiate, rebid, change specifications, or retain a justified premium for service and resilience.
Use Case
A restaurant group finds that Supplier A’s fry price is 6% above Supplier B’s. MassGain shows 2% is explained by a tighter sourcing region, 1% by longer freight, and 1% by a higher-yield specification that reduces restaurant waste. The remaining 2% exceeds the supplier’s historical spread. Procurement preserves the justified premium, negotiates the unexplained portion down, and avoids switching to a nominally cheaper product with worse usable economics.
FAQs
What can cause potato supplier price variance?
Region, crop period, contract timing, specification, yield, processing, packaging, freight, service, and commercial spread can all contribute.
Why should supplier prices be normalized before comparison?
Quotes may use different units, delivery bases, specifications, sourcing regions, and included services.
How does MassGain separate justified and unexplained variance?
It aligns supplier prices with matched benchmarks, historical spreads, physical-market conditions, and known cost components.
Put this market intelligence to work
Get historical data, regional detail, benchmarks, alerts, exports, and API access tailored to your procurement
and market-analysis needs.
Data and Methodology
Professional market-data standards
MassGain is building transparent public market infrastructure. Each live metric will identify its date, unit, coverage, methodology, and source basis.
Data provenance
MassGain uses public, licensed, contributed, and independently derived physical-market information. Source availability and publication schedules vary.
Timing and revisions
Figures may reflect the latest available observation rather than a same-day transaction. Source data and MassGain calculations may be corrected, restated, or revised.
Not transactional pricing
MassGain figures are informational reference values and do not constitute executable bids, offers, settlements, or guarantees that a transaction can occur at the displayed value.
No individualized advice
Content and data are provided for informational and analytical purposes and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, trading, or individualized procurement advice.
Independent publication
Certain observations may be derived from USDA reports. MassGain is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USDA.
Commercial use and licensing
Public display does not grant rights to reproduce, redistribute, republish, or incorporate MassGain indices or references into commercial products or contracts without authorization.