News on Food Trends from Belgium

Clarebout Potatoes, a top Belgian frozen fries producer, is in advanced talks with US giant J.R. Simplot for a major deal, possibly worth billions. The move could expand both firms’ global reach amid rising industry competition.

Brussels marked the 2nd International Day of Potato with a conference and exhibition, highlighting the crop's role in food security, sustainability, and innovation. Stakeholders called for supportive EU policies to boost the potato value chain.

Belpotato.be is surprised to learn of the proposals from some potato buyers, whereby they unilaterally reduce the contracted quantities from the buyer without any form of consultation in already signed contracts. This is unacceptable.

Belgian machine builder Sticomax, the holding company above the companies IntOCon (BE), StuMaCo (BE), Romonta (NL), ViwateQ (NL) and DutchTecSource (NL), is acquiring Dutch sector colleague FoodeQ Engineering. 

Agristo, a global leader in potato products, is targeting an ambitious milestone: producing 1.3 million tons annually by 2030. Agristo has partnered with Polysense, a cutting-edge AI innovator specializing in food industry solutions to achieve this sustainably.

Roger & Roger has been honoured as the first SDG Pioneer in Wallonia by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). This prestigious title recognizes companies that have successfully integrated sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their operations.

Very late and difficult planting conditions and emergence problems on a large scale are cause of concern in some of the main production regions in North-western Europe.

BELFertil and Belgapom collaborate to offer growers, crop supervisors, and advisors a new website dedicated to sustainable fertilization practices for potatoes.

With innovation, resilience, and a commitment to sustainability as its guiding principles, Pomuni is poised to continue its ascent, leaving an indelible mark on the agricultural landscape of Belgium and beyond.

Nothing as Belgian as a tasty packet of fries. But sustainably producing fries requires a lot of knowledge, development and collaboration with companies and researchers.

The foreign material identification accuracy of TOMRA Food's sorting and grading solutions has won a prestigious International FoodTec Award for 'using artificial intelligence and cloud technology to improve food safety, quality, and traceability while increasing process efficiency'.

La temporada de cultivo de 2023 trajo desafíos sin precedentes para los productores de semilla de papa en Europa. Condiciones climáticas desfavorables y una reducción en la superficie sembrada han provocado retrasos en la siembra, disminución de los rendimientos y una importante escasez de semilla.

Scientists confirmed this week that summer 2023 was the hottest season the world has ever seen by a large margin. Europe is warming almost twice as fast as the global average, at about 2.2C above pre-industrial times.

Toxic datura and nightshade weeds are more often harvested with crops such as green beans and baby leaf spinach, with the risk of getting into the final product. Today, advanced sorting technology is capable to deal with these challenges

As part of a package of measures for a sustainable use of natural resources, the European Commission is proposing to set legally binding food waste reduction targets to be achieved by Member States (MS) by 2030.

Following the success of the promotion campaign Potatoes, prepare to be surprised – Europe’s favourite since 1536 that was launched in 2020 and finished at the end of last year

A recent report by the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce (GCFP) analyses the global trading environment for fresh fruits and vegetables and concludes a number of challenges threatening the long-term economic viability of the fresh produce sector worldwide.

Copa-Cogeca, Freshfel Europe, the European Fresh Produce Association, and Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, have taken note of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste that was published on 30 November 2022