50% of potatoes grown in the United States are processed into products like chips and instant mashed potatoes. Potato chips are a billion dollar industry. Lay's made over 1.7 billion dollars in sales in 2017 and other companies made at least millions, which means that a lot of potatoes would be needed to reach these type of figures. The instant mashed potatoes number is not really surprising either considering how much the United States relies on processed food.
