News on Food Trends from Canada

Two research scientists on P.E.I. have spent their summer trying to grow a better potato, more resistant to scab and greening, which are both costly problems for potato growers.

The smallest potato from the Carcross/Tagish First Nation garden harvest this year was the size of a pea. The spud might be tiny, but its ancestors travelled a long way to get here. The Lingít K'úntsx', or Tlingit potato, has been grown in Alaska for over 200 years.

Northern Farm Training Institute will test a range of potato varieties to see which do best in Northern Canada. This pilot project could approved earlier this month could improve food security.

Many potato fields across Prince Edward Island are not in the condition they usually are at this time of year due to the hot and dry conditions for much of July and August.

Crop sales in first half of 2020 topped CAD 200M despite COVID-19 pandemic. It has been on the wild side, but 2020 has started out well for Prince Edward Island farmers.

In celebration of National Potato Day and hard-working potato farmers across the country, Canada's largest food delivery app and the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products team up to provide consumption data.

Potato farmers in Atlantic Canada are worried about their supply with COVID-19 and extreme weather conditions causing complications.

EarthFresh’s Paper Revolution offers retailers a full potato product line in 100% compostable paper packaging.

EarthFresh launches new Biobased Mesh Packaging for Baby Potatoes and Baby Sweet Potatoes.

Romain Cools, President, and CEO of the World Potato Congress Inc. (WPC) announces the appointment of three new Directors to its Board effective July 1, 2020: Dr. Nigel Crump, Australia, and Mrs. Elven Huang, China, both former WPC International Advisors, and Mr. Bret Nedrow, USA.

McCain Foods confirmed that layoffs have occurred at its Carberry potato processing plant in an email sent by the company to the Sun on Wednesday.

COVID-19 has shaken the whole world-impacting society and the global economy similar to the effect of a world war.

'This will help to ensure no product is lost so that farmers are in a good position for the 2020 growing season'

Restaurant closures have slashed demand although ‘chip sales have been great,’. French fry sales are down across North America as tens of thousands of restaurants have closed during COVID-19, which means the potato industry has to adapt quickly.

McCain Foods announced a donation of up to 20-million pounds of potato products to support Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest, and other local food security organizations across the country.

Cavendish farms haven’t laid off any staff yet because of the coronavirus (COVID-19), but a spokeswoman for the company says short-term layoffs are expected.

Québec Parmentier merges with Patate-Saint-Ambroise of Saguenay. The joint announcement was made by Pierre Chouinard, Chief Executive Officer of Québec Parmentier and Mathieu Bouchard, President of Patate-Saint-Ambroise.

COVID-19-related restaurant closures lead to ‘curtailment’ of french fry production. Cavendish Farms has advised the P.E.I. potato producers under contract to supply the company with spuds to 'sell to other markets if they can'.