Brancheorganisaties uit Europa

The Dutch Association of Arable Farmers of (VTA) finds an average yield of 53.622 kg/ha, 8% below last year and on par with the 5-year average. Although tubers are large this season, the VTA predicts low factory yields as a result of a host of quality issues, resulting in an increased demand for potatoes per ton finished product.

This November over 6,000 growers, packers, processors, retailers, researchers, specialists, consultants, journalists, students and international visitors will head to the Harrogate International Centre, for the biennial potato industry event, BP2015.

With a major new campaign to promote fresh potatoes across Britain and Ireland about to break, AHDB Potatoes and Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) are calling on industry to get behind it and help change the way consumers think about potatoes.

The extreme weather in Switzerland will affect the upcoming potato harvest. Tubers are small, so the supply is expected to be tight.

In the annual VTA sampling of the development of the Dutch potato crop development, mid August a yield was found 16% lower than last year and 7.1 below the 5 year average.

Spain's potato sector is once again hampered by a price crisis, with producers failing even to cover their production costs.

The AHDB Potatoes ‘Next Generation’ tour kicked off in Yorkshire last month, visiting two progressive Yorkshire based potato processing businesses.

New branding and a proposed new way of working for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) was formally launched at the Cereals event in Lincolnshire earlier this month.

AHDB Potatoes launched its first ever ‘Next Generation’ programme, a series of 9 business and technical days that - for a selected few - will provide exposure to the whole supply chain.

In the latest Consumer Category Report of the Potato Council, one of the topics addressed is the online sales of fresh potatoes - including actual growth, comparison to competitive products and grocery in general as well as future opportunities

Each year, large quantities of ware and seed are exported from the United Kingdom to the Canary Islands. Potato Council’s head of seed and export, Rob Burns, updates on the current difficulties affecting this long established trade agreement.

Late last week, the Potato Council published its annual GB Potatoes Market Intelligence report, wrapping up all key information about the GB potato market in order to inform decision-making and provide answers for common questions about the industry.

Building on the growing success of its collaboration over the past two years, Potato Council and Horticultural Development Company (HDC) brought the largest collaborative UK stand yet to this year’s Fruit Logistica event in Berlin.

Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, and DKHV, the German Potato Trading Association (Deutscher Kartoffelhandelsverband), are pleased to announce the dates for the annual Europatat Congress, that this year will take place in Düsseldorf (Germany) from 7 to 9 May 2015.

'Potato Council' will become 'AHDB Potatoes' later this year as the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) operating divisions will be rebranded to create a simplified family of levy-payer facing brands under the AHDB name.

Romain Cools, secretary of the Belgian Potato Processors Association Belgapom expresses his views on the free potato market.

Cuban visitors were given a focused tour encompassing Scottish Government’s SASA’s plant health facilities, a seed potato micro-propagation facility, and visited a leading Scottish seed grower and exporter.

Starch Europe (formerly AAF, Association des Amidonniers et Féculiers) announced its support for the European Commission’s Communication for a European Industrial Renaissance at an event held in Brussels October 15.