News on Food Trends from United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, McCain Foodservice has launched a new website, providing caterers with an online experience that is tailored to their own unique business requirements.

Cuban visitors were given a focused tour encompassing Scottish Government’s SASA’s plant health facilities, a seed potato micro-propagation facility, and visited a leading Scottish seed grower and exporter.

Unilever and IOI Loders Croklaan have signed a global partnership designed to drive efficiency, increase capacity and quality of specialty oils and fats as well as commodity oils.

Now there will be even more reasons to purchase the sharing bags as KETTLE® Chips runs its first ever on pack promotion on the core 150g range (United Kingdom).

The dates have been set for the famous UK Potato Week 2014; running from 6-12 October the campaign will celebrate the humble potato and encourage mums to ‘trade-up’ from generic whites to named varieties.

The FSA (Food Standards Agency) has published the results from its latest study looking at levels of the process contaminants acrylamide and furan in a wide range of UK retail foods.

As Potato Council and the GB seed potato sector prepare for next months’ Potato Europe event in Germany, recent export statistics confirm that GB seed potatoes continue to be in demand around the world, with the 2013/14 figures revealing a new seed exports record from Britain.

Administrators at O'Hara & Co have managed to tie up a pre-pack deal for Holme Farm Produce safeguarding jobs and the future of the business.

Experts from the UK and India are working together to identify and develop novel environmentally-sustainable strategies to control plant pests, known as plant-parasitic nematodes to ensure global food production and security.

Potato Council has been working hard to raise the profile of potatoes amongst Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), promoting their health and sustainability credentials and creating awareness of the significant contribution they make to the Scottish economy.

McCain Foods GB is looking for a new agency for its UK advertising account, as part of a £20 million review.

Cheshire potato growers gathered at Aston Grange Farm near Runcorn, at the end of June 2014, to discuss the opportunities for the local crop at Potato Council’s Cheshire Potato event.

An international team of experts led by Newcastle University has shown that organic crops are up to 60% higher in a number of key antioxidants than conventionally-grown ones.

Fabcon HCFS 220 Batch Fryer produces up to 220 kgs of finished product per hour using the same or less energy than competitive equipment producing 120 kgs, according to the company.

Potato Council’s One Voice campaign is fast gaining momentum, with people from all sectors of industry getting involved and doing whatever they can to help spread positive messages about potatoes.

The West Midlands Potato Day attracted a good crowd of industry visitors on 19 June when potato grower Jonathan Bubb of J.M. Bubb & Sons hosted Potato Council’s technical field day at Lynn South Farm, Newport, Shropshire, where they grow around 400 acres of potatoes.

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.

McCain Foods GB will be and official supplier of Tour de France 2014, which starts with an opening stage in Yorkshire.