News on The Potato Supply Chain from United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the value of fresh potato category is growing with a 3.8% rise over the last year, while the volume of fresh potatoes sold has dropped by 8.0%. The Potato Council is figuring out what can be done about it.

Researchers at the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen have made a breakthrough in understanding how the microbial spores which cause potato blight are so effective at infecting plants.

Summer is the perfect season for a laidback lunch in the sun and what could be a better accompaniment for a BBQ or al fresco dining than a bowl of tasty, fresh new potatoes. This summer treat yourself to the freshest and best with Freshly harvested Ayrshire and East Lothian Potatoes available from Tesco stores in Scotland.

Leading UK potato supplier, Greenvale is strengthening its marketing team with the appointment of two new members of staff, Tracey Mattock who takes on the role of Marketing Manager, and Kate Wright who is the new Category Insight Manager.

In Northern Ireland, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and CAFRE, Greenmount Campus has issued the first potato blight warning for 2014.

Tong Peal has appointed Ian Evison in a newly created after sales position at its national headquarters.

Modern cooks too lazy to peel a potato - leaving a farmer losing £70 on every tonne of spuds he grows

Herbert Engineering has added significant new features to their Oculus optical sorter, which will enable growers and packers to achieve superior quality product with increased accuracy in the detection of defects tubers.

The newly introduced Variclean from Herbert Engineering has eased the problem of lifting in heavy conditions for many potato growers over the past two winters.

In the United Kingdom, many potato crops are now emerging well - straight into conditions that pose a high risk of blight.

A vision for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) was outlined by the Food and Farming Minister George Eustice and the new AHDB chairman Peter Kendall when they addressed AHDB employees.

Potato Planting in North-Western Europe is well on its way.

This week saw the Potato Council division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of its Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research (SBCSR) facility, near Spalding in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

Fiona Fell has taken on the challenging and exciting role of Chairman of Potato Council and member of the AHDB Board.

Greenvale AP, based in Tern Hill, Shropshire, has confirmed redundancies could be made following a review of its potato packing operations.

El número de diferentes tipos de plagas que destruyen las cosechas en el mundo en desarrollo podría ser muy superior a lo que se conoce, lo que estaría contribuyendo aún más a mermar las cosechas en países que son grandes productores de alimentos, dicen investigadores.

Potato Council acts as a knowledge house for Government raising the importance of the potato. Two years since this work programme started there has been a real increase in knowledge about potatoes amongst parliamentarians with 83% now regarding potatoes as an important crop.

UK food brand Birds Eye is launching Mashtags this month, a new product inspired by social media.