News on Food Trends from the Netherlands

Hybrid potatoes are piquing the interests of people both within and outside the potato sector. A hybrid combines the best of two systems in order to maximize performance. But what does hybridization mean? And will it change the sector for good? HZPC weighs in.

The Dutch Association of Arable Farmers of (VTA) finds an average yield of 53.622 kg/ha, 8% below last year and on par with the 5-year average. Although tubers are large this season, the VTA predicts low factory yields as a result of a host of quality issues, resulting in an increased demand for potatoes per ton finished product.

Fifty percent of the trucks used for the transport of potatoes to Avebe now meet the Euro 6 emission standards.

Dutch start-up Caenator, in collaboration with StartLife and Wageningen University & Research Centre, presented a new fully automatic french fry vending machine.

Research shows that crops with stacks of two or more resistance genes from closely related species, introduced into the crop via for instance genetic engineering, combined with the simultaneous introduction of resistance management, can ensure the long-term resistance of these plants to economically significant and aggressive diseases.

In the annual VTA sampling of the development of the Dutch potato crop development, mid August a yield was found 16% lower than last year and 7.1 below the 5 year average.

A small field on an island off the Netherlands' northern coast promises one answer to the problem of how to feed the world's ever-growing population: potatoes and other crops that grow in saltwater.

Fresh-food specialist for the hotel and restaurant industry Rungis and HZPC are bringing the ancient potato varieties from the Andes back on to the plate in Dutch restaurants.

Bayer CropScience en Farm Frites zijn onlangs in een Food Chain Partnership gestapt, met als doel duurzame landbouwmethoden te implementeren in de aardappelteelt in België en Nederland.

Bayer CropScience and Farm Frites recently started a Food Chain Partnership initiative designed to implement sustainable agricultural practices in potato cultivation in the Netherlands and Belgium.

In this week 'Nature Plants', scientists from Wageningen University and The Sainsbury Laboratory report the identification of a resistance gene that enhances resistance against potato late blight from a South American wild relative of cultivated potatoes.

In the potato processing industry, each year seems to have a trend - meaning there is a lot of attention on a particular machine or process. This year seems to be “the year of the steam peeler”.

Lamb Weston / Meijer, one of the top three producers of processed potato products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), has published its third sustainability report.

Supplier of food packaging and processing solutions tna has announced the acquisition of leading food processing specialist Florigo International B.V., adding Florigo’s range of continuous snack and french fry lines to tna's equipment line-up.

The distribution agreement between AVEBE and Ingredion will be terminated as of March 31 2015 for North America and Japan.

Een nieuwe, revolutionaire methode om nieuwe aardappelrassen te kweken kan een flinke impuls geven aan fotosynthese-onderzoek. Daarom treedt Solynta, de ontwikkelaar van de kweekmethode, toe tot BioSolar Cells

Diamond Foods, Inc. announced that it has acquired a 51% stake of Yellow Chips, a manufacturer of high quality vegetable and organic potato chips based in the Netherlands.

The soil expertise found at Wageningen enjoys international recognition. So it is only fitting that numerous activities in 2015, the International Year of Soils, are to take place in Wageningen.