Opportunities exist for American growers in the United States to produce different types of sweetpotatoes for those markets. Unlike cassava, aroids, and yams, importation of sweetpotatoes into the United States is prohibited by law. Hence, there is little or no supply for potential ethnic markets because the type of sweetpotato demanded by those markets is different from the normal phenotype which is now the major focus of domestic commercial sweetpotato production. Preferred types are red or white skinned, cream to white flesh, non-sweet or very slightly sweet, and dry in texture. Desired traits for each type are very different and breeding programs must have specific programs for developing acceptable cultivars of these types.
Some efforts do exist to meet the demands of ethnic markets.
A new Japanese clone recently entered the domestic market and is being grown in California and North Carolina. This cultivar may not be ideally suited to domestic growing conditions. There is ample opportunity for breeders to respond to the need for new phenotypes to meet new market opportunities. Market feasibility studies would establish the extent of the potential market, and should they be positive, convince growers of the profitability of producing this type of sweetpotato. The North Carolina State University sweetpotato breeding program has a small project underway to develop the type of sweetpotato described.