Potato News from Europe

In October chef Heston Blumenthal revealed his top tips for achieving roasties that are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, every time. However, according to students from Edge Hotel School at the University of Essex, Blumenthal has been cutting his spuds all wrong.

With a rapidly expanding global population and limited food supply, it’s vital for food businesses to work more sustainably and stay profitable. Bjorn Thumas, director business development food, TOMRA Sorting Food offers his vision

Sales at potato firm Albert Bartlett have climbed 18 per cent to £146m, but operating profit was again impacted by price pressures in the supply chain.

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 169.8 points in December 2017, down 5.8 points (3.3 percent) from November with the steepest declines registered in the prices of dairy, vegetable oils and sugar while those of cereals and meat also fell but only slightly.

With the concluded acquisition of the Italian Pavan Group end of November 2017 the Düsseldorf engineering group GEA purchased a leading supplier of extrusion and milling technology for processing all kinds of fresh and dried pasta, pelleted snack products and breakfast cereals.

Burt’s Potato Chips have announced the purchase of Leicester’s Savoury & Sweet popcorn manufacturer for an undisclosed sum.

Europatat welcomes its new Communication & Policy Advisor, Berta Redondo

If a surface has to be protected against corrosion, this usually takes place through coating it with paints or varnishes. Bio-based, environmentally-friendly solutions are hardly available. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute are developing a cost-effective coating based on renewable raw materials, potato starch in particular

Aviko Foodservice has announced the launched of their Crunch Fries in the United Kingdom. These new French Fries are perfect for home deliveries.

More and more often, potato growers are opting not to take their potatoes to one of the major processors. Instead, they do their own processing!

Never before has Agrico marketed such high volumes of seed potatoes, and could pay out such high dividends to members for both seed and table potatoes. Consequently, the 2016/2017 financial year will be noted as one of the most successful years in Agrico's history.

Starch manufacturers KMC and AKV Langholt aim to establish commercial production of functional potato proteins from the potato fruit juice remaining after starch extraction, using Lihme Protein Solutions’ proprietary technology

Following an investigation by the Animal and Plant Health Agency earlier this year, it has been confirmed that ulluco tubers imported into the UK from a number of different sources were infected by harmful viruses, highlighting that there is uncertainty about the disease status of this crop in general.

Identification of the receptor for Cytolisin - the killer toxin of Phytophthora infestans - opens door to biological methods to protect potatoes and selective, biological herbicides as alternative for glyphosate

A smoothie based on 'potato milk' is expected to be commercially available next year. The product is made using a patented process using an emulsion of potato and omega-3 oils as a dairy replacement developed at Lund University by Eva Tornberg.

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 175.8 points in November 2017, down fractionally (0.5 percent) from October but still almost 4 points (2.3 percent) above the corresponding period last year. A sharp rise in sugar and vegetable oil quotations was largely offset by a fall in dairy values.

Novidon - a company that adds value to potato starch isolated from side streams of potato processing companies - introduces new branding.

McCain UK is opening a Roastaurant where one can sample 100,000 possible roast dinner combinations.