News on Food Trends from United Kingdom

The UK food industry has seen a surge in the sales of organic foods according to an annual report by the Soil Association.

Building on the growing success of its collaboration over the past two years, Potato Council and Horticultural Development Company (HDC) brought the largest collaborative UK stand yet to this year’s Fruit Logistica event in Berlin.

To combat tumbling potato consumption, NFU Scotland has urged the industry’s statutory levy body to consider shifting its funding emphasis from research and development to more promotion.

While most of the UK’s largest supermarkets reported stronger than expected food sales over the festive period, their ongoing and brutal price war is pushing many food suppliers and smaller high street grocers to the brink, warns business recovery specialists Begbies Traynor.

'Potato Council' will become 'AHDB Potatoes' later this year as the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) operating divisions will be rebranded to create a simplified family of levy-payer facing brands under the AHDB name.

Tayto Group Ltd has recalled a batch of ‘Tayto Snack Attack 10+5 (Bikers, Rollers and Chips) multipack’ because it contains milk, soya and wheat which are not mentioned on the outer wrapper.

If you are a supplier to the chip shop trade or foodservice sector with quality potatoes for chipping, then it makes sense for you to get behind Chip Week 2015!

Produce World Group has purchased the roots division of Fenmarc Produce, based at Swinderby, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, McCain Foodservice has launched a new website, providing caterers with an online experience that is tailored to their own unique business requirements.

Cuban visitors were given a focused tour encompassing Scottish Government’s SASA’s plant health facilities, a seed potato micro-propagation facility, and visited a leading Scottish seed grower and exporter.

Unilever and IOI Loders Croklaan have signed a global partnership designed to drive efficiency, increase capacity and quality of specialty oils and fats as well as commodity oils.

Now there will be even more reasons to purchase the sharing bags as KETTLE® Chips runs its first ever on pack promotion on the core 150g range (United Kingdom).

The dates have been set for the famous UK Potato Week 2014; running from 6-12 October the campaign will celebrate the humble potato and encourage mums to ‘trade-up’ from generic whites to named varieties.

The FSA (Food Standards Agency) has published the results from its latest study looking at levels of the process contaminants acrylamide and furan in a wide range of UK retail foods.

As Potato Council and the GB seed potato sector prepare for next months’ Potato Europe event in Germany, recent export statistics confirm that GB seed potatoes continue to be in demand around the world, with the 2013/14 figures revealing a new seed exports record from Britain.

Administrators at O'Hara & Co have managed to tie up a pre-pack deal for Holme Farm Produce safeguarding jobs and the future of the business.

Experts from the UK and India are working together to identify and develop novel environmentally-sustainable strategies to control plant pests, known as plant-parasitic nematodes to ensure global food production and security.

Potato Council has been working hard to raise the profile of potatoes amongst Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), promoting their health and sustainability credentials and creating awareness of the significant contribution they make to the Scottish economy.