Potato News from United Kingdom

In Scotland, a group of major potato businesses and public sector organisations have sponsored a £242,000 (USD 313,000) research project aimed at reducing the impact of potato disease blackleg on the Scottish seed potato industry.

Potato industry representatives, growers and influencers from all over the UK and beyond are expected to descend on Dundee to take part in Potatoes in Practice 2017, a technical potato field event featuring a high-standard mix of science, technology and practical advice and the largest of its type in the UK.

When Pipers Crisps — one of Britain’s best-known crisp brands — wanted to understand more about the science behind their premium products and processes they turned to food experts at the University of Nottingham.

The Leicester Mercury brings you this seldom-told story of The Biggest Crisp Factory in the World, a vast grey building in Leicester (United Kingdom) where Walkers produces seven million bags of potato chips (crisps) every day.

Nominations for the coveted ‘British Potato Industry Award’ and ‘AHDB Above and Beyond Award’ are now open.

KETTLE® the favourite premium crisp brand in the United Kingdom, is pleased to announce the launch of Discoveries, an exciting new sharing range featuring unique flavour combinations, designed to target the growing couples night in occasion.

Earlier today, TOMRA Subsidiary Compac announced a new partnership with Xact, one of the United Kingdom’s leading integrated solution providers and a specialist in packaging and marking equipment.

Plans to expand the McCain Foods (GB) potato processing factory in Eastfield (Scarborough) have been approved by planners last Thursday, clearing the way for the proposed £100m investment (USD 130 million).

Potato supplier Albert Bartlett (United Kingdom) has made its first entry into the sweet potato market with a listing at the British online retailer Ocado.

Seed potato growers for the United Kingdom who have been confident that crucial trade with Egypt and other non-EU markets would not be disrupted by Brexit may be in for a shock.

AHDB Potatoes Market Intelligence Analysts estimate the total area planted with potatoes in Great Britain this season is 121,000 hectares. This is up by four per cent on the previous year.

Scientists have identified a version of a single gene involved in the heat stress response that is more active in potato types that can tolerate high temperature, potentially providing potato breeders a tool to make potato varieties less vulnerable to increased temperature.

Tong Engineering is pleased to announce new design options on its popular Fieldloader, including unique automatic transport-mode features, allowing users to make the machine even more compact for road transport.

With six farms as shareholders of 3Ms (Three Musketeers) operating more than 34,000 acres, they have contracted Haith, Tomra and Dijkstra to put in a new state-of-the-art potato grading and sorting line at their site at Bentwaters, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. A brand new building for this has been constructed also.

Key Technology’s Optyx® digital sorters are selected by regional processors of batch-fried potato chips/crisps working to satisfy the rising quality expectations of consumers and retailers around the world.

Earlier this month, Aviko has added Golden Hash Browns to its product range in the United Kingdom, tapping into the all-day dining trend.

Great Britain grower-held potato stock levels at the end of March 2017 were at 1Mt, around the same volume as the end-March 2016 and 300Kt less than the end-March 2015 according to an AHDB estimate.

DEFRA ha aprobado la solicitud del Laboratorio Sainsbury, Norwich, para llevar a cabo ensayos de campo con cultivo de papa genéticamente modificada (GM) en un sitio de ensayo designado en el Norwich Research Park entre 2017 y 2021.