Potato News from Europe

Up to 186 jobs are under threat after KP Snacks said it had plans to close two of its factories in a move to streamline its business.

Tesco Northern Ireland’s commercial manager Cliff Kells has confirmed that sales of ‘Comber’ potatoes more than doubled, year-on-year, in local Tesco outlets during the months of July and August.

The North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) estimates that the upcoming
Potato harvest could set a new record, even higher than 2011 when production reached
26.8 million tons.

The <strong>FAO Food Price Index</strong> averaged 196.6 points in August 2014, its lowest level since September 2010. In August, the index registered its fifth consecutive monthly decline, down 7.3 points (3.6 percent) from July and 7.9 points (3.9 percent) from August 2013.

'We still have faith in the future of the starch potato in Germany,' said Gebhard Bakker, Chairman of the Bundesverbandes der Stärkekartoffelerzeuger e.V. (BVS) (producers' association for starch potatoes) on the occasion of a press conference on September 3 at the PotatoEurope 2014

HZPC has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Rungis for its Perupas specialty potatoes.

HZPC is een exclusieve distributieovereenkomst aangegaan met horeca-groentenspecialist Rungis voor de Nederlandse markt en betreft de bijzondere productgroep van Perupas gekleurde oer-aardappelen..

Ashley Hunter, senior vice-president and head of TOMRA Sorting Food, who became head of the global sensor-based food sorting business in October 2013, said TOMRA Sorting Solutions’ food business grew nicely during the first half of this year.

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.

Around 10,000 potato professionsals from more than 60 countries visited PotatoEurope 2014 at the Rittergut Bockerode estate near Hanover.

Today at the Stockholm International Water Institute's annual World Water Week, PepsiCo announced the company's latest Water Report and unveiled Hydro-BID, a tool that estimates the availability of freshwater in water-scarce regions.

During Potato Europe 2014 in Germany, AVR demonstrates its lightweight harvester: the Puma+ with the patented Varioweb cleaning system.

The Dewulf group has reached a preliminary agreement for the acquisition of Miedema, the one to go to for development and production of modern technology for storage, sorting, transport and planting of potatoes.

The number of McDonald’s Corp.’s restaurants that are either being shut down or inspected by the Russian consumer regulator has grown steadily over the past several days as tensions between Moscow and the West intensified after Kiev accused Russia of invading Ukraine.

In the potato market, growers and traders live from day to day. 'It's very unpredictable at the moment', Bart Nemegheer of the Aardappelhoeve laments. 'Demand is good, but prices are far below par.'

In a reversal of policy, the Russian government last week modified its prohibition on several types of food imports from the United States, Canada, the EU, and other Western countries to allow for the importation of seed potatoes.

Dewulf will demonstrate its complete range of potato harvesters at Potato Europe in Germany :the new RA3060, Kwatro and the RJA2060.

Sponge and felt dryers from Herbert Engineering, the leaders in root crop handling systems, have been integrated into freshpack plants in Britain and Europe, with excellent results both in terms of removing surface moisture and minimising maintenance