Mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes and French fries are all front runners for Atlantic Canadians’ favourite way to eat potatoes.

  • A quarter of Atlantic Canadians prefer their potatoes mashed, and a similar proportion prefer either roasted potatoes or French fries.
  • New Brunswickers and Nova Scotians are most likely to say mashed potatoes are their favourite, while Islanders prefer roasted potatoes, and French fries are the favourite in Newfoundland and Labrador.

February 18, 2022

As a region home to potato experts and growers, we thought it important to find out Atlantic Canadians’ favourite way to eat potatoes. One-quarter of Atlantic Canadians prefer their potatoes mashed (26%), and similar proportion most enjoy roasted potatoes (23%) or French fries (22%). Approximately one in ten say baked (12%) or scalloped potatoes (10%) are their favourite, while hashbrowns (3%) and boiled potatoes (3%) are less popular.

Opinions on favourite way to eat potatoes vary across provinces. Although Florenceville-Bristol, NB is fondly known as the French Fry Capital of the World, New Brunswickers are most likely to indicate that mashed potatoes (26%) are their favourite, albeit closely followed by French fries (22%). Meanwhile, those residing in the province home to the Potato Blossom Festival (i.e., Prince Edward Island), decidedly prefer roasted potatoes (36%), followed by mashed potatoes (27%), and scalloped potatoes (13%) in a distant third. Nova Scotians are torn between mashed and roasted potatoes as their favourite (28% vs. 27%), while Newfoundlanders and Labradorians prefer French fries (29%).


Narrative Research, www.narrativeresearch.ca, is one of Canada’s leading public opinion and market research companies. As a non-partisan, 100% Canadian-owned research company, Narrative Research provides clients with state-of-the-art research and strategic consulting services. Visit EastCoastVoice.ca to join Atlantic Canada’s largest panel, and share your opinions.

This survey was conducted from January 11 to 16, with 1,140 Atlantic Canadians from Narrative Research’s online panel, East Coast Voice. As a non-probability sample (i.e., a panel sample where residents have joined a panel to share their opinions), and in accordance with CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards, a margin of error is not applied. 

The questions reported in this release include:

What is your favourite way to eat potatoes?

  • Mashed
  • Roasted
  • French fries
  • Baked
  • Scalloped
  • Hash browns
  • Boiled
  • Other
  • All of the above

For more information, please contact:

Margaret Chapman, COO & Partner: 902.493.3834 (W); 902.222.4048 (M), mchapman@narrativeresearch.ca

OR

Margaret Brigley, CEO & Partner: 902.493.3830 (W); 902.222.7066 (M); mbrigley@narrativeresearch.ca

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