News on The Potato Supply Chain from United Kingdom

Potato supplier Branston has scooped a top retail award naming them as the 2011 Tesco supplier with the best technology innovation to reduce carbon. Tesco congratulated Branston for effectively innovating throughout its production processes and investi...

One of the UK’s leading potato suppliers, Branston Ltd has been praised for its excellent water management by a group of sustainability experts who visited from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Branston installed a £1-million water recycl...

Met het droog weer, dat de kans op beurse plekken verhoogt, op komst roept de Potato Council in Engeland telers op om een actieve houding aan te nemen en gedurende het seizoen alle stappen van de oogst goed te letten op de kwaliteit van het product.  “...

Stormont officials are facing a grilling by Assembly Members over an embarrassing international incident in which potatoes exported from Northern Ireland were rejected for being diseased. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) represen...

The UK government has proposed dramatic increases in costs for its plant health services. The revised costs, proposed in a consultation by the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), would increase fees by more than 400% for some services. For ex...

With dry weather exacerbating the risk of bruising potatoes at harvest, Potato Council has called on growers to take a proactive stance and make quality assessments at all stages of harvesting, from lifting to store loading.

A seven-day celebration of the humble spud has been held to recognise one of the world’s most versatile ingredients that has had a presence on our dinner plates for more than 450 years. Hosted by the Potato Council, the first ever Potato Week builds o...

UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports grew to £5.8bn in the first half of 2011 – a rise of over 13% on the same period in 2010, as revealed by figures released by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). Exports to the EU increased by 12.6% to £4.4bn wi...

Aunt Bessie’s has announced a new variety to its market leading Frozen Potato range – Special Roast Potatoes basted in duck fat. The range has been developed in response to consumer demand for premium roast potatoes, following a number of chefs bastin...

Record numbers are expected at the potato industry’s event of the year, BP2011, which will be held at Harrogate in November. Entry will be free of charge and amateur growers can attend, although the event is not designed for them. Students thinking o...

A Scottish potato producer that supplies Birds Eye, McCain and Tesco has unearthed a 10 per cent rise in turnover in its maiden results as a listed company. Revenues at Duns-based Produce Investments grew to £171.4 million in the year to 25 June, boos...

Top potato researchers from Britain and The Netherlands have joined the speaker panel at the World Potato Congress (WPC 2012) due to take place in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 27-30. Exploiting the potato genome and how new-found knowledge will ultimatel...

Irrigate with the right amount of water, at the right time, in the right place, growers were urged by Dr Jerry Knox at the well-attended Potato Council East of England day (September 1, Tuddenham, Bury St Edmunds). Improved water efficiency may not ne...

To ensure efficient, robust and reliable box tipping, Tong Peal, the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of handling and sorting equipment for the vegetable handling industry, has introduced a new side eject box tipper.

Two Potato companies - Taylor Food Group and QV Foods - have signed a five year deal with the James Hutton Institute's Mylnefield Research Service (MRS) subsidiary to continue a potato breeding programme that originally started in 2005. Taylor Food Gr...

Potato Council is introducing a wide range of potato related resources into secondary schools as part of the national curriculum after successfully piloting a new classroom project;‘Cook Your Own Potatoes’.  Following on from the increasingly popular ...

International seed breeders and exporters sharing the Potato Council stand enjoyed a very busy time at this year’s Potato Europe (Tournai, Belgium, September 7-8). “The record-breaking 2011 seed potato export season reflects our success in this secto...

After the feared potato disease Dickeya Solani showed up in Scotland in imported seed potatoes in 2009 and 2010, a new survey shows no signs of the disease in 2011. The survey was carried out in support of Scottish legislation which established a &quo...