Potato News from Europe

Aardappeldemodag has started planting activities for Aardappeldemodag 2026, with 2.5 hectares of the potato variety Libra planted last week.

The government says that the reorganization of border controls made it possible to increase physical inspections of agri-food products by 7.5% in one year, strengthening oversight of imports and exports amid growing trade flows.

Diversos factores, tanto económicos, productivos, como del orden del comercio internacional contribuyen a una recalibración del sector de la patata local.

Urschel will debut its Little Gem Aspire Dicer, a new fruit and vegetable cutting system, at major trade shows starting in May 2026, including interpack in Düsseldorf, NRA Show in Chicago, FOOMA in Tokyo and ProPak Asia in Bangkok.

At Interpack, JEROS introduces the industrial utensil washer Model 9240 ACE, developed specifically for food processing environments where hygiene, uptime, and efficiency are critical.

Aviko and Aviko Rixona published their 2025 Sustainability Report, highlighting SBTi-validated climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement and progress in electrification, grower collaboration, and lower-carbon products.

Lincolnshire, the county that helped feed Britain during wartime, is back in focus as concerns grow over how much of its own food the United Kingdom can produce. The county will host a major new national farming event later this year.

Bagged Snacks is a powerhouse category for the convenience channel. Worth over GBP 5.3 billion (USD 6.6 billion) and outpacing the growth of other key impulse categories, it’s a primary driver of footfall, appearing in one in every five C&I baskets.

Wageningen University & Research starts new field trials with genetically modified potatoes. The potatoes tested in these field trials have been genetically modified by adding or switching off multiple genes.

Growers who can no longer sell their surplus potatoes anywhere now have the option to dump their potatoes on their fields via a raw material declaration. They can register via the website of Boerenbond, which obtained the declaration for all Flemish growers.

Zoetermeer - The Dutch Potato Organisation welcomes the National Potato Week initiative, organised by No Waste Army. Additional attention for potatoes fits with the sector's ambitions to stimulate consumption and reduce food waste.

Elea will host an online webinar on April 20, 2026, focused on the application of Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology in potato chip processing for the North, Central and South American market.

Royal Avebe has completed the potato campaign for the 2025 growing year. The potato starch factories in the Netherlands and Germany operated well and steadily during the campaign.

Flikweert Vision has introduced an upgraded QualityGrader for potatoes and onions. The optical sorting machine is now available in working widths of 1.0 and 1.5 meters and processes up to 30 tons of product per hour.

New trials in Europe will evaluate genetically modified potatoes with enhanced resistance to diseases such as late blight, aiming to reduce pesticide use and provide evidence for the regulatory debate on new genomic techniques.

La campaña de patata temprana en España arrancó en el Campo de Cartagena con la variedad Soprano, destacada por su alta calidad y versatilidad, en una muestra de la resiliencia y capacidad competitiva de los productores locales.

GB Potatoes recently discussed risk in its Cutting the odds: Managing risk in potato production webinar. It heard from GB Potatoes chair Alex Godfrey, the CEO and President of Potatoes USA, Blair Richardson and Rory Gibson.

Elea Technology GmbH has released a new video featuring an interview with Tomislav Lukačević, Investment Director at Kanaan d.o.o., Croatia's largest snack products manufacturer.