Potato News from Northern America

The Washington office of NASS said Washington growers planted fewer potatoes and more dry peas and will have lighter peach and apricot crops. Washington winter wheat production is expected to reach 109.7 million bushels this season, up 1 percent.Potato...

A fresh jalapeño pepper grown in Mexico and processed in Texas has tested positive for the strain of salmonella that has sickened more than 1,200 people in recent months, food safety and health officials said today. The U.S. Food and Drug Administratio...

Prince Edward Island potato growers may be one step closer to settling a contract dispute with Cavendish Farms. But they’ll have to wait until Wednesday to find out how close they’ve come.After nearly two weeks away from the table, the potato growers ...

McCain Foods' new potato processing plant in Florenceville will be up and running sometime next week. The company had hoped to start operations this week, but spokesperson Calla Farn said the company pushed that date back to run some final tests. &quo...

It's not the Great Irish Potato Famine of the 19th century, but the summer of 2008 has turned into a major test for potato-chip producers across the country. The price of a bushel of chip potatoes has doubled in the last few months, going from $9 to a ...

Two potato farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan are taking their produce directly to the heat-and-serve convenience food market. Barrich Farms of Outlook, Sask., about 90 km south of Saskatoon, and Bassano Growers at Bassano, Alta., about 140 km east o...

Wendy's International Inc., the nation's No. 3 hamburger chain, said Friday it is making "good progress"in ironing out the details of its takeover by Arby's owner Triarc Cos. Inc. In a letter to employees filed with the Securities and Exchang...

Potato chip producer Ira Middleswarth &Son may soon see the end of the potato shortage that slowed their July production to a crawl, according to a company official. Thanks to Midwestern crop shortages, the Middleburg-based chip maker endured three...

Faced with rising costs and pickier customers, processed foodmakers find ways to boost their products' appeal—and make price hikes stick.   Having already teased out costs through greater automation, shrinking inventory, and tighter logistics, manufact...

Burger King Corp. has bought 72 restaurants throughout Iowa and Nebraska from franchisee Simmonds Restaurant Management for an undisclosed amount.   The company said that it has expanded its restaurant presence to attractive Midwest markets, enabling i...

A new umami ingredient has been launched as a possible alternative to monosodium glutamate which could help food manufacturers reduce costs and salt content in their products.   UmamiPrime contains no glutamate and delivers "strong umami taste&quo...

Agricultural exporters at this year's Agricultural Transportation Coalition (AgTC) Annual Transportation Conference in June reported that in a year of soaring demand for their products, ocean transportation constraints and container shortage are preven...

United Potato Growers of Idaho projects 300,266 acres of potatoes in Idaho for the 2008-09 season, down 12.3 percent from the acreage counted in 2007-08 by the Farm Service Agency.United announced the results of its first-ever potato acreage count at t...

A mandatory three-year crop rotation could be a real hot potato if the provincial (Prince Edward Island) government attempts to legislate it this fall, suggest some farmers who applaud the Commission on Nitrates in Groundwater report. The report was ma...

The board of directors of ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG) approved a dividend payment of $0.19 per common share, to be paid on Sept. 4, 2008, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 1, 2008.

Lagging sales at KFC prompted David Novak, chief executive officer of parent Yum! Brands, to unleash of string of criticisms of the fast-food chain this morning during a conference call with analysts.“Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are winning, and KFC is los...

Odenberg Engineering, a designer and provider of Peeling Process Technology and Electronic Sorting Solutions has identified energy consumption and improving product yield as some of the greatest challenges facing low and high volume processors. Incre...

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) today reported results for the second quarter ended June 14, 2008. SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS • Very strong system-sales growth of +43% in mainland China and +15% in Yum! Restaurants International (YRI), fueled by broad-bas...