Brancheorganisaties uit Europa

Supporting the chipping sector is high on the agenda for Potato Council all year round, but with Chip Week (17 – 23 February) just around the corner, the team is more focused than ever on helping chips shops improve the quality of their chips and drive sales as a result.

“The major troubles faced by the potato producers in Bulgaria were connected with irrigation,” said Ventsislav Kaymakanov, chairperson of the National Association of Potato Producers

Potato Council is calling on the UK industry to help promote the ‘Natural Goodness’ of potatoes, by applying for a new Potato Council car sticker which is now available to all its levy payers.

Potato yield increases in the United Kingdom have stuttered to a halt in a similar manner to cereals in recent years and experts believe improving the state of British potato-growing soils will be vital to drive yields higher again.

Following the successful first-time collaboration by the British potato and horticulture sector at Fruit Logistica 2013, Potato Council, Horticultural Development Company (HDC) and the Commercial Horticultural Association (CHA) return with their industries to this massive event in February 2014.

The potato industry flocked to Harrogate for BP2013, with organisers reporting a 20 per cent increase on the usual 6,000 attendance.

Chip Week has become one of the biggest awareness weeks in the calendar, but, as important as it is, it is still only one aspect of the work that Potato Council does to support the sector.

In Spain, a new potato organisation was established: "Foro Espanol de la patata", the Spanish Potato Forum.

Educating children about the importance of food, farming and healthy eating is a priority for Potato Council and the ‘Grow Your Own Potatoes’ project does just that. Now entering its tenth year, the project has reached over 2 million children to date.

According to Romain Cools from Belgapom it is a fact that the consumption of fresh potatoes by Belgian families is falling, but he expects the prices to remain high.

Soldier, Atlantic rower and motivational speaker, Rory Mackenzie, strives for success and is constantly searching for new challenges. Ticket holders to the sell-out BP2013 potato industry dinner, will get the opportunity to hear his inspirational story.

FoodDrinkEurope, the trade body representing Europe’s food and drink industry, welcomes the political agreement reached between the EU and Canada on the key elements of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

In the United Kingdom, Members of Parliament (MPs) were treated to a day of potatoes, as Potato Council was sponsored to attend Parliament during Potato Week (7-13 October).

In the United Kingdom, a high profile advertising campaign has been launched to drive awareness and sales of named potato varieties.

More than 140 potato growers, advisors and agronomists met at Frederick Hiam Ltd, Tuddenham, Suffolk at the end of August, 2013, for Potato Council’s East of England Potato Day.

This week, Breeders Trust successfully reached an agreement with eight Italian agricultural cooperatives and producers that propagated potato varieties and marketed these as officially certified seed potatoes, without permission of the variety owner.

Yield trials of the Dutch Farmers Union VTA indicate a yield mid August 19 percent below the 5-year average.

Growers, agronomists and technical specialists turned out in high numbers at Potatoes in Practice earlier this month on the James Hutton Institute’s Balruddery Farm, Invergowrie.