Potato News from Europe

Priory Vodka made from a small acreage of potato crop that is otherwise destined for McCain’s and McDonald’s fries won two prestigious Gold awards at the Global Spirits Masters in autumn 2017. Priory Vodka will go on sale shortly.

Cargill and its Danish potato starch partner, AKV Langholt AmbA, are investing $22.5 million USD (EUR 19 million) in a new potato starch production unit at their Langholt facility in Denmark.

A research project aims to improve the accuracy of the ‘AHDB Potatoes potato cyst nematode (PCN) pallida calculator’ which is currently used as an educational forecasting tool for potato growers in the United Kingdom.

La Asociación Agraria de Jóvenes Agricultores (Asaja) de León ha denunciado que Carrefour publicita una oferta de papa española como francesa. Asaja ha exigido a la cadena la inmediata retirada del ofrecimiento y con ello cualquier tipo de publicidad engañosa y contraria a las leyes que protegen a los consumidores.

The highest court in Iceland has upheld a ruling that a 76% duty charged on imported French Fries is not unconstitutional.

Fairfields Farm Crisps has agreed to acquire Ten Acre Crisps, in an ongoing concentration of smaller premium brands focused on high quality and free-from attributes in the UK snack market

Potato Chip manufacturer 'Keogh's crisps' has become one of the most popular food brands in Ireland over the past few years, and it grew out of a potato farm in Dublin.

Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, has confirmed the dates for its annual Europatat Congress. Under the slogan “Potatoes: a healthy, sustainable and responsible sector”, the 2018 Congress will focus on sustainability.

Leading vegetable handling equipment manufacturer, Tong Engineering is pleased to announce the appointment of ScanStone potato systems as the company’s new approved dealer for Scotland.

TOMRA Sorting Food has appointed two highly experienced senior sales people for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to further implement its controlled growth strategy.

Avebe's Innovation Centre reached its highest point early December. The new premises will be housing the Innovations, Sales and Marketing departments. Space will also be made for start-ups in the agrofood sector under the name: Innolab Biobased Economy.

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