Potato News from Europe

Researchers in Norway investigated the best way to avoid the formation of acrylamide when producing potato chips. They focused in particular on identifying the most suitable potatoes to use.

Sormac B.V., the market leader in machines for the processing of fresh vegetables from Venlo, The Netherlands, has reached agreement with Felcon B.V., established in Everdingen

Intralox, L.L.C.—the inventor of modular plastic belting and the leading global conveyance solutions provider—announced the relocation of their European headquarters to a larger facility in Schiphol, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Listen up all you potato fans: here come five trendy snacks, which really bring out the luscious taste of potatoes. These new guys are called the Crispy Veggie Snacks and their crunchy golden brown coating envelops a filling of delicious potato mousse.

With effect from 15 June 2023, the GRIMME Group from Damme (Germany) takes over the Polish agricultural machinery retailer Agrarada from Brzezimierz near Wroclaw.

Klaas Hidde Kuipers will start at Royal Avebe on August 21, 2023 as Chief Operations Officer (COO). He succeeds Mark Tettelaar, who will leave Avebe on August 31.

Though digital technologies are still young, they are already improving operational efficiencies and have the power to help improve profitability in other ways too. Felix Flemming, Head of Digital at TOMRA Food and Recycling, explains.

On June 5 and 6 the European potato community gathered for the Europatat Congress 2023 in Gdansk, Poland under the slogan 'The Changing Geopolitical Landscape and the Future for Potato Trade'.

Robert Voskamp of the Dutch company Rola Fresh said that he has never seen the potato market this hot.

Bredel hose pumps are contributing to a sustainable solution for steam potato peeling provided by TOMRA Food which reduces water usage, water treatment and food waste.

European Space Agency (ESA) has been supporting research in frying cooking methods in microgravity to fill in knowledge gaps on Earth and in space. Frying potatoes in space seems to be possible!

A pest never before seen in Latvia – the pale potato cyst nematode (Globoder pallida) has been identified in a Zemgale potato farm.

The sector-wide preference for potato planting and ridging in one working pass has never been greater. Dewulf has been responding to this demand for several years with the Smart-Float principle.

Lamb Weston EMEA opened its new Innovation Center in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, on June 8, 2023 in the presence of employees, suppliers and the mayor of the city.

The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 124.3 points in May 2023, down 3.4 points (2.6 percent) from April and as much as 35.4 points (22.1 percent) from the all-time high it reached in March 2022.

Extreme weather incidents are serving to rock Europe’s potato industry to its very foundations. Last year was actually the second warmest year on record in Europe. The drought conditions resulted in a dramatic downturn in overall potato output.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, announced the commencement of the issuing of grant approvals under the 2023 Scheme of Investment Aid for the Seed Potato Sector and Chipping Potato Sector.

The Rabobank report on the US Potato Industry anticipates good prices for the remainder of the 2022/23 marketing year, particularly as the year comes to an end before the new crop harvest begins.