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 | June 2008 | | | |  Spain and France collaborate to relaunch fresh potato consumption
The marked drop in fresh potato consumption in both countries has led to collaboration between the two organisations with the aim of dynamising the situation. The close relationship between French production and the Spanish market, (France is Spain’s main potato supplier with annual sales of around 650,000 tonnes) has led the organisations in both countries to work jointly on a study which is to come out in June. In addition to the study, the French CNIPT (French Interprofessional Potato Association) has already put a proposal on the table for a new segmentation not based on culinary qualities.
Source: Fruittoday.com
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| | | McDonalds's switches to transfat free oils
The McDonald's Corp. has completed its changeover to cooking oil with no trans fat at its restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, the company announced in the third week of May. The world's largest restaurant chain is now cooking French fries, hash browns, Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and chicken in a blend of canola, corn and soybean oils.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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| | | McCain UK launches foodservice website
McCain Foods has launched its foodservice website, offering product support and advice to pubs.With a distinct section for pubs, the site at www.mccainfoodservice.co.uk/ helps publicans to discover more about McCain products as well as offering menu inspirations.
Source: The Publican
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| | | Underestimated potato as the food for the future
Long taken for granted in developed countries, the potato has the potential to relieve the pressure of increasing cereal prices on the poorest people and contribute significantly to food security, according to experts at the International Potato Centre in Lima, Peru. Potato is a crop that is grown and eaten locally, with little significant international trade compared to cereals, so it is particularly valuable as a food in the developing countries.
Source: International Potato Center
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| | | New Frymaster Protector fryers win Kitchen Innovations award at NRA 2008
A new fryer from Frymaster, LLC offers the next generation in ultra-high performance commercial frying, combining oil savings and energy conservation with labor-saving technological features. Frymaster’s new Protector electric fryer is said to take high-tech 'smart' frying to the next level with innovative oil and energy-saving features. Frymaster’s renowned, patented FootPrint PRO® built-in filtration system preserves oil life and ensures the quality of fried foods, putting filtration where it’s most convenient to use – right within the Protector fryer battery.
Source: National Restaurant Association
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| | | Slovenia - Imports of frozen potato products
Slovenia’s Statistical Office reports that Slovenia imported frozen potato products worth USD1.56 million in the first two months of this year, while Slovenian exports of the same type of commodity were worth USD32,000. Slovenia also imported potato flour, meal, powder, flakes, granules and pellets worth USD489,000 in January and February, while exports of these commodities were worth USD92,000.
Source: Slovenia’s Statistical Office
| | | After consolidation, Intersnack faces off with PepsiCo in the Czech Republic
The 1990s ushered in a tidal wave of junk food in the Czech Republic, with various players looking to fill the untapped bellies of Czech consumers. One of the earliest arrivals was Germany’s Intersnack, which came to the market in 1992, taking over a potato chip plant in Choustník, south Bohemia. While Intersnack has courted its customers with a nationally tailored brand, PepsiCo is banking on its global brand Lay’s. The international label, which has its origins in the American South of the early 1930s, is a latecomer to the market, first appearing on shelves at the end of 2004.
Source: The Prague Post
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| | | Potato flakes units shut despite bumper crop in Bangladesh
The country's major manufactures of potato flakes have closed their factories, despite this year's bumper potato crop, complaining that they are unable to raise working capital to run the plants. Officials of Patwary Potato Flakes Limited (PPFL), one of the four potato flakes producers in Bangladesh, said in early May '08 their factory is capable of producing between 7,700-8,000 tonnes of potato flakes a year but they are unable to do so due to lack of working capital to buy potatoes.
Source: The Daily Star
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| | | Starch manufacturer China Essence Group increases revenue 65%
China Essence Group Ltd, one of the largest integrated potato-processing producers in the People’s Republic of China, announced its full year financial results for the financial year ended 31 March 2008. Revenue increased 65% over FY2007, from RMB521.2 million to RMB858.8 million, on the back of higher sales volumes. Mr Zhao Libin, Chairman and CEO of China Essence said, “As demand for potato starch, modified starch and potato starch-based products continues to grow,we are pleased to announce fresh plans to strategically expand our operations to meet with this demand. We are also moving towards being a truly integrated potato-processing producer, with our suite of primary, downstream and by products.”
Source: China Essence Group
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| | | Agrana acquires 50% of Studen Group
Sugar and starch producer in Central and Eastern Europe, Agrana, announced in May that it acquired, subject to regulatory authority approval, 50 per cent of the shares in the sugar sales operations of the Studen Group, Vienna.
Source: Food Production Daily
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| | | Heinz says it's reducing its carbon footprint
H.J. Heinz Co. says it plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent within about 7 years. CEO Bill Johnson says Heinz is finding new ways to reduce its environmental impact, which includes converting potato peels into biofuel and reducing packaging by 15 percent. At its plant in Oregon, Heinz is working to convert potato peels into biofuel. The company plans to distribute and sell that fuel through a central natural gas pipeline. It also plans to treat and recycle 90 percent of the water used for daily potato production at the same plant, which could save a billion gallons of water per year.
Source: Associated Press
| | | Processed potato has overtaken fresh potato in terms of output and turnover
Between 1995 and 2005 processed potato output rose from five million tonnes to over 10 million, and the value of these transactions doubled from 2,000 million dollars to almost 4,000. Fresh potato was worth less than 2,500 million dollars for an output of just under 10 million tonnes. These trade figures highlight another clear trend in the sector: fresh potato consumption in developed countries has been decreasing for over a decade.
Source: FruitToday.com
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| | | Potatoes perish in Gujarat cold storage, farmers cry foul
Farmers in Deesa town of north Gujarat, accounting for the highest potato output in the state, are worried after much of their produce stocked at a state-run cold storage was found to have perished. “We are ruined. Our annual earnings have gone,” lamented Ramesh Thanaji Mali, a farmer from Athamanavas Ranpura village, 10 km from Deesa in Banaskantha district.
Source: Thaindian News
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| | | Slight increase in Polish potato producer price
Poland’s Central Statistical Office reports that the average price received by potato producers for their potatoes at market places in Poland in March this year was 2.0 per cent higher than in February and 1.1 per cent higher than in March 2007.
Source: Poland’s Central Statistical Office
| | | Potato producer price lower in Hungary; higher in Slovenia
Hungary’s Central Statistical Office reports that the producer price of potatoes in Hungary in the first quarter of this year was 1.8 per cent lower than in the same period in 2007. Slovenia’s Statistics Office reports that the producer price of potatoes in Slovenia in the first quarter of this year was 47.2 per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of last year and 19.2 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2007.
Source: Hungary’s Central Statistical Office; Slovenia’s Statistics Office
| | | Lam Dong potatoes for Thailand
Officials in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong have reportedly signed a deal to export potatoes to Thailand by the end of the year. Farmers in the province signed the agreement with Pepsico Viet Nam under which the company provides Atlantic potato seeds, initial capital investment and then purchases the product. The company also co-ordinates with local partners to reduce or exempt farmers’ debts incurred when natural disasters or epidemics affect crops.
Source: Vnagency.com.vn
| | | Potato farmers in Gujarat set up export company in response to bumper potato crop
About 50 farmers from different districts in Gujarat have pooled in Rs 1 lakh each to launch their own company to export commodities like potatoes, groundnut, cotton, mangoes etc. KP Agri International Pvt Ltd aims to export agri-commodities to foreign countries and is getting a lot of support from the Gujarati Diaspora settled abroad in the Gulf and Africa.
Source: Times of India
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| | | Poland - Potato production and purchases higher in 2007
Poland’s Central Statistics Office reports that Poland produced 11.8 million tonnes of potatoes in 2007, an increase of 31 per cent as compared with the previous year. However, last year’s production figure was 19 per cent lower than the annual average production in the 2001-2005 period. The area cultivated with potatoes in 2007 was 600,000 hectares, 4.6 per cent lower than in 2006, and 29.9 per cent lower than the 2001-2005 average. Potato purchases in the July – December 2007 period totalled 864,500 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 19 per cent.
Source: Poland’s Central Statistics Office
| | | Kyrgyzstan - Potato production higher in 2007
Kyrgyzstan’s National Statistics Committee reports that potato production in Kyrgyzstan last year totalled 1.37 million tons, as compared with 1.25 million tons in 2006 and 1.14 million tons in 2005. The average per hectare potato yield in 2007 was 15,700 kilos.
Source: Kyrgyzstan’s National Statistics Committee
| | | Namibia - Input costs hamper potato production
At a time when the world is banking on the potato as a high nutrient crop that can help vulnerable consumers evade the current high food prices, high production costs per hectare in Namibia remain the biggest limiting factor. Although production has increased a hundred fold from 2006 to last year, prospects for 2008 do not look so good.
Source: allAfrica.com
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| | | Grimme offers rotary cultivator and potato planter in combination
Less fuel consumption and less working hours, less wheel tracks and less soil compaction - these are the advantages when potato planting and the preparing soil tillage are combined in one operational pass. For this method of combination now the first experiences in practical operation are available for the Amazone KG 3000 rotary cultivator and the GL 34 potato planter offered by Grimme.
Source: Lifepr.de
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| | | With no buyers, Indian farmers scramble to recover costs as potatoes perish
In Agra’s wholesale markets, the smell of decay sti-cks to everything. Everywhere, huge mounds of potatoes rot, releasing an acrid smell. Farmers watch helplessly.
In the two weeks since the government banned futures trading in the food staple, buyers have disappeared and the piles of the decaying tuber have grown. For the farmers in the region, the timing of the ban couldn’t have been worse. On 7 May, the day the government imposed a ban on futures trading in potatoes, their luck ran out.
Source: Livemint.com
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| | | Potato said to have dim future in Indonesia - FAO
With its high rate of growth, high yield and low water consumption, the potato has become the world's fourth major food crop in the world, but its prospects in Indonesia face many challenges, a representative for Indonesia's chapter of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says. While speaking at a seminar help by the UN's FAO in Jakarta in May, ManHo So said certain challenges, related to the vegetable's biology and planting requirements, had to be overcome to achieve its potential in the country.
Source: Jakarta Post
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| | | Utilising local organic manures on potato crops
FINE weather greeted the 150 or so visitors attending the West Midlands Potato Day, hosted by Andrew Watson-Jones at Howle Manor, near Newport, Shropshire in the UK, David Jones reports. Increasing interest in organic manures as a source of nutrients for potato crops and a means of off-setting the cost of manufactured fertiliser has prompted some detailed research into how they can be introduced most effectively.
Source: Farmers Guardian
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| | | India - Protest against inferior seed potato
Activists led by district leader Kanagal Murthy staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Hassan on June 10 in protest against what they termed the poor quality of seed potato which did not germinate after being planted. It instead became rotten, they alleged. The protesters squatted on the floor with samples of rotten seed potato taken from the soil and demanded that traders be prevented from cheating farmers. Addressing the press, Mr. Murthy said potato was one of the commercial crops grown particularly in Hassan, Belgaum, Chikballapur, Dharwad and Kolar districts, and every year farmers purchased seeds worth almost Rs. 400 crore. These districts also produced around Rs. 3,000 crore worth potatoes, he added. Foundation seeds F1, F2, F3 and F4 of the Kufhri Jyothi and Chandramukhi varieties are produced in Jallandar, Punjab which is suitable to the weather of these districts.
Source: The Hindu
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| | | India - Water shortage at Central Potato Research Station hampers seed production
Acute water shortage in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh is posing a serious threat to the production of potato seeds at the Central Potato Research Station. The potato research centre, which has earned a name for producing quality potato seeds, is facing problems due to water scarcity. Most of the research center’s water sources have dried up. Even people working at the centre are reportedly not getting sufficient supply of drinking water.
Source: Thaindian News
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| | | Summer spraying poses drift risk for potatoes
Potato growers in the UK are appealing to neighbouring cereal farmers to take extra special care when spraying glyphosate this summer. Undetectable levels of drift can cause serious damage to potato crops, especially those grown for seed. The appeal was launched at Cereals 2008 on Wednesday (June 11) by Potato Council, supported by HGCA and Assured Combinable Crops (ACCS). “Seed potatoes are very sensitive to low levels of glyphosate contamination,” states Potato Council’s Rob Clayton. “It can result in severe crop loss or damage from planting contaminated seed. The difficulty is that this can occur from contamination levels below the limit of detection (0.05 parts per million), so extra precautions must be taken when spraying near a potato crop this summer.”
Source: Potato Council Ltd
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| | | Britain votes for its favourite potato dish in celebration of the International Year of the Potato
The United Nations (UN) has officially declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato (IYP). In Britain and throughout the rest of the world, the potato is recognised as one of the most important agricultural crops, taking fourth place close behind maize, wheat and rice. Potatoes are one of the nation’s best loved foods, appreciated not only for their versatility, but also their health and nutritional benefits. The potato is extremely versatile and a quick and easy meal solution, perfect for busy adults and families. Low in fat and a good source of dietary energy and micronutrients, the potato contains vitamin C, B vitamins and folic acid, to name but a few nutrients.
Source: Potato Council Ltd
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| | | Acrylamide update
On May 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center (FDA) for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition updated their February 2003 Acrylamide Questions and Answers page. It provides answers for many questions such as “What is acrylamide? How does acrylamide form in food? What kinds of cooking lead to acrylamide formation? In what foods? Should I stop eating foods that are fried, roasted, or baked?” The new question and answer document does not alter the previous FDA advise to consumers that there is no scientific evidence at this point to suggest dietary changes are required. The new FDA material encourages consumers to understand that browner or more toasted fries and toast would have more acrylamide than those that were cooked or toasted a shorter time. NPC continues to be involved with a broad food industry coalition responding to the acrylamide issue.
Source: FDA
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| | | Frito-Lay launches low sodium versions of its top selling snack chips
PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America business unit recently announced the launch of 'Pinch of Salt', a low-sodium version of some of its most popular brands – Lay's potato chips, Tostitos tortilla chips, Fritos corn chips and Ruffles potato chips. While Frito-Lay snack chips are generally moderate in sodium to begin with – for instance Lay's Classic potato chips contain 180 mg of sodium per one ounce serving – the Pinch of Salt product line provides individuals with a low-sodium snack chip that contains 75 mg of sodium per one ounce serving. “The number one request from our consumers is for low sodium versions of the products they love most,” said Jaya Kumar, chief marketing officer, Frito-Lay North America. “While consumers request low sodium versions of their favorite products, they aren't willing to compromise on taste. The Pinch of Salt line still gives consumers great-tasting snack chips they want, but with less sodium than their original counterparts.”
Source: Frito-Lay North America
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