News on Potatoes for processing

After several years of negotiations, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) has agreed to allow US chipping potatoes to be transported overland from an international port to an approved processing facility in Kagoshima.

At the Anuga FoodTec trade fair from 24 to 27 March in Cologne, Insort presents the latest innovation in process monitoring for food production with its 'Sherlock food analyser'.

The president of the Potato Growers Association (Asopapa) of the state of Carabobo (Venezuela), Aldemaro Ortega, said the price per kilo, for the potato processing companies, had been set at 40 bolivars.

Productores de Aragua, Carabobo y Lara acordaron incrementar el precio de la cosecha de 14 a 40 bolívares.

Black Gold Farms, an industry leader in potato production, sales and marketing, recently acquired the legacy potato production operation, George Wood Farms located near Camden, NC.

Heinz Frozen Foods, manufacturer of the Ore-Ida retail brand is changing the procurement process for the potatoes for its Ontario, OR potato processing plant. Heinz will now contract with the Oregon Potato Company, Pasco, Washington.

Idaho is currently confronted with the unusual situation that large Russet potatoes are far more expensive than small Russets and the price gap is only increasing.

In Costa Rica, potato growers, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the University of Costa Rica (UCR) are exploring the possibilities for the local production of french fries.

Late December, Potato Processor Cavendish Farms detected again sewing needles stuck in potatoes processed at its New Annan plant on Prince Edward Island.

The Nyandarua government is partnering with the National Potato Council and German organisation GTZ to introduce varieties of potatoes suitable for processing

There's a major potato shortage in New Zealand and it's big enough that it's forced chip producers to temporarily stop production in the countdown to Christmas.

Farm Frites has signed an agreement with Inner Mongolia Linkage Potato Co. Ltd (Linkage) to set up a joint venture in Wudan Town, Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia in China

New Zealand Potato production in 2013, at 525,000 metric tons, was marginally (5%) ahead of 2012 production. t is likely planted areas in 2014 will be similar to 2013, with production in the range of 500,000 to 550,000MT.

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

Extreme heat throughout Idaho to start July has raised concerns from some potato and onion growers.

Whether you call them glassy ends, translucent ends, dark ends, jelly ends, or something even less flattering, sugar ends are a significant issue.

Potato Processor Cavendish Farms of Jamestown, North Dakota, United States, has reduced its contracts with Manitoba growers (Canada) to 305,000 hundredweight for 2014

Keystone Potato Producers Association based in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, has yet to complete negotiations with Simplot Canada II over a contract for 2014 production.