News on Food Trends from the United States

At the National Potato Council’s (NPC) 2016 Annual Meeting, held January 14-15 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jim Tiede from James Tiede Farms of American Falls, Idaho, was elected to serve as NPC’s president for 2016 and to lead the council’s Executive Committee.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that according their independent analyses, Earth's surface temperatures in 2015 were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880.

Neil Gudmestad, a potato pathologist with North Dakota State University, has been awarded the 2015 Potato Man for All Seasons award by produce magazine The Packer.

For the first time, Potato Expo 2016, the largest conference and trade show for the potato industry in North America, will host a food truck chef competition highlighting the broad appeal of potatoes and mobile food trucks.

Stanley Trout joins the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) foodservice marketing team as Promotions Director for the Southeast, based in Nashville, TN.

Twenty potato growers from all over the Wisconsin converged on Madison last week for their annual “grill the professors” ritual.

Continuing in its journey toward zero waste, and in recognition of last week’s America Recycles Day, ConAgra Foods announced its annual Zero Waste Champion award winners.

Conagra Foods announces plans to separate into two independent public companies, Conagra Brands ('Diverse portfolio of Leading Brands') and Lamb Weston ('Leading Foodservice Supplier of Frozen Potatoes')

Mcdonald's is testing sweet potato fries in a number of its restaurants in Texas

The US Agency for International Development has awarded Michigan State University (MSU) a $5.8 million cooperative agreement to improve potato production in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Additional partners include the University of Minnesota and J.R. Simplot as well as in-country partners in both Bangladesh and Indonesia.

During the Company's investor meeting today, McDonald's Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook and members of senior management provided an update on the Company's Turnaround Plan

Calyxt, Inc., a Minnesota-based company focusing on developing healthier food products, has announced that it has completed the first field trials of its cold storable potato.

tna announces the expansion of its family of brands with the acquisition of Unique Solutions®, a leading provider of value-added inserts and onserts which are dispensed and/or applied using Unique Solutions’ full range of inserting and labeling equipment.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Potato Research Worksite is a unique, invaluable resource that helps develop better chips, fries and dehydrated flakes through improved storage and processing.

A fire in a centrifugal cooking vat in the Kettle Foods potato chips factory in Beloit caused no injuries but about USD 170.000 damage in contents

ConAgra Foods, Inc. today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its private label operations to TreeHouse Foods for approximately $2.7 billion

Arca Continental today inaugurated its Global Innovation Center for Snacks in Atlanta, which will serve the Wise business in the US, Bokados in Mexico and Inalecsa in Ecuador.

Herr Foods Inc. has initiated a voluntary recall of certain bags of its 1.875 oz. Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chip due to a packaging error that incorrectly states that the product is gluten free.