News on The Potato Supply Chain from United Kingdom

Scientists at the Scottish Crop research Institute (SCRI) have helped unlock the mystery behind potato blight - a disease that costs the global industry an estimated £4billion of losses every year. The same disease devastated crops in Ireland 150 year...

In Fife, Scotland, a farm worker died after falling into a potato harvester in Fife. The arms and legs of the 34 year old man became entangled in the machinery on Foodie Farm near Cupar on Sunday morning.He was taken by helicopter to hospital but later...

Desparate Housewives star Marcia Cross has been signed up by potato company Albert Bartlett. Marcia will front the new rooster potato ad campaign which is the biggest yet by the UK’s leading fresh potato supplier. John Hicks, marketing manager for Al...

New international work is under way to help potato growers assess the risk, before planting, of their crops getting powdery scab and black scurf (Rhizoctonia solani).The Potato Council-funded £430,000 three-year study involves SCRI, SAC and the Food an...

William Chase (Founder of Tyrrell’s upscale potato crisps and king of added value) has scooped four Gold awards for it’s’ potato vodka and liqueurs.The Great Taste awards, run by the Guild of Fine Food, has awarded Chase distillery a Gold 1 star award ...

Greenvale AP, the UK's largest supplier of fresh potatoes, is developing a radical potato cleaning system on its Tern Hill, Shropshire site. The system is code-named Project Cascade and Greenvale aims to have it fully operational by the end of the year...

Up to a sixth of the UK's potato production could be lost as a result of an EU directive on pesticides, an expert said yesterday.Rob Clayton, of the Potato Council, based his warning on the effects of removing several chemicals essential in keeping pe...

Three major growers have set up a new potato farming company in Herefordshire. Faced by three bad seasons and difficulty in maintaining high standards in the packing trade, they have decided to change direction in marketing. The new company, Process...

For years, healthful-food advocates have said organic food is more nutritious than conventionally grown. But that claim — trumpeted on the Web sites of organizations ranging from the national Organic Trade Association to the Seattle-based PCC Natural ...

Fresh potatoes take a starring role and inspire families to build them into their weekly meal repertoires.Thanks to its innovative ‘Me for a Day’ life swap experiment, which was captured on film and has been airing nationally, the Potato Council’s camp...

Organic food is no healthier than ordinary food, a large independent review has concluded.There is little difference in nutritional value and no evidence of any extra health benefits from eating organic produce, UK researchers found. The Food Standard...

The Agency is today launching a consultation on its proposals to introduce voluntary recommendations for food manufacturers for reductions in saturated fat and added sugar and increased availability of smaller single-portion sizes in a number of key ...

A new option for automation of the weighing and bagging of potatoes is being provided through a joint initiative by Tong Peal and Pacepacker Services.  The two companies are working together to offer machinery that combines the Tong Peal electronic w...

The Potato Council’s estimate of total potato plantings for 2009 has been updated from the provisional end-June area of 129,100 ha to a revised figure of 130,268 ha.This is very close to the final published figure for 2008 of 130,200 ha. The revised fi...

A trial of genetically modified potatoes which was vandalised last year has restarted, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.The Leeds University trial aims to grow potatoes which are resistant to a microscopic worm which stunts their growth and costs British ...

More than 80 jobs will go after potato trading company MBMG went into administration.Ian Carr and Malcolm Shierson of Grant Thornton were appointed joint administrators to the company, which has its headquarters in March, Cambridgeshire, and employs ab...

The UK government has unveiled plans to cut carbon emissions in a bid to tackle climate change.The Low Carbon Transition Plan calls on farming to reduce emissions to 6% lower than the level predicted for 2020.It suggests this should be done through an ...

Prospects for growing blight-resistant potatoes created by genetic modification have received a setback in the UK after BASF's decision to suspend research into such varieties.BASF's blight-resistant potato Fortuna was five to six years away from comme...