News on Food Trends from Asia

Earlier this week McDonald’s announced the successful completion of a strategic partnership with CITIC and The Carlyle Group. The partnership will operate and manage McDonald’s businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong and ramp up growth and innovation using the combined expertise.

Potato Corner CEO Joe Magsaysay shares the secret behind the french fries brand that he built into a global franchise business with annual sales of P1 billion (almost 20 million USD).

The Potato Centre of Excellence, Punjab’s only centre of its kind being set up at Dhogri village in Jalandhar, has not been completed yet, though the deadline for the project was 2015.

As part of their Lunar exploration in 2018, Chinese scientists will take an 18x16 cm cylinder to the surface of the moon and see if potato seeds can grow there in this containerized mini-ecosystem (Courtesy: 163.com)

PepsiCo Greater China Region (GCR) signed a strategic agreement with Alibaba Group, the world's largest online and mobile commerce company.

La escasez, que ha disparado su precio y vaciado los estantes de los supermercados, ha puesto de manifiesto, además, el férreo proteccionismo que el país asiático ejerce sobre sus productos agrícolas.

Starting next week, McDonald’s Japan will offer daigaku imo French fries. Daigaku Imo litterally means “college potato”.
It is a popular sweet potato snack with a sweet sauce, and allegedly gets its unusual name from being a hit with cash-strapped students looking for a cheap yet tasty bite.

PepsiCo identified Myanmar as a potential hub for growing potatoes, thanks to its rich, fertile lands and favorable climate.

Latest industry research reveals growing demand for new and innovative F&B products

Snack food company Calbee is playing with fire by expecting people to swallow their new concept potato chips: 'Wet Potato, Moist Mild Soy Sauce Flavor.'

Farmer, Hao Jinde, sold his potatoes, over 500 kilograms of them, for 600 yuan (US$88). Instead of setting up a stall on the street, this year Hao sold them to a store belonging to an online shopping platform in his village in Jingle County, a potato growing region in north China’s Shanxi Province.

With potato consumption continuing to rise in Cambodia, the Agriculture Ministry unveiled last month a USD 200,000 research center it hopes will research and develop potato varieties most suited to the country.

For those who can’t get enough of pumpkin-flavored treats during Halloween, McDonald’s Japan is offering french fries covered in pumpkin and chocolate sauce.

It is a particularly unsuccessful year for North Korean agriculture. An inside source in North Korea has reported that torrential rains have affected the potato harvest in Unheung and Daehongdan in Ryanggang Province.

Potato breeders at the International Potato Center (CIP) strive to develop marketable, resilient varieties with resistance to viruses and late blight that can be grown in an array of environments. An example...

To welcome autumn this year, the luxurious ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs brings back “Murasaki Imo”, or “Purple Potato” ice cream as it was revealed to be the third most loved flavor by fans.

The Aravan Agro Service in Kyrgyzstan more than doubled its potato yield and profits in 2016 by partnering with the United States through the USAID Agro Horizon project.

Lack of rain has left potato growers of Hassan - a district in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka in distress.