News on The Potato Supply Chain from the Netherlands

On the third Thursday of April, the first potatoes for the PotatoEurope harvesting demonstrations were planted under ideal weather conditions. By pressing the start button, acting mayor of Noordoostpolder Jan Westmaas sent autonomous implement carrier Robotti on its way to plant the first potato.

Averis Seeds B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Avebe, will be working together with the hybrid potato breeding company Solynta on the hybrid breeding of starch potato varieties.

The PotatoEurope organization has started preparing the potato trial fields at the event location near the central Dutch city of Lelystad.

Last November Agrico built an online news platform to support its buyers and growers with important knowledge and information. Agrico now also shares the latest insights and successes of its Next Generation potato varieties on this online platform

The sale of potatoes is not entirely disappointing at the moment, observes Felix Molenaar of potato and vegetable wholesaler Molenaar from Haarlem.

VerDi Import in the Netherlands has received their first Nicola potatoes. These arrived from Morocco at the beginning of the month.

With the event theme 'What's Now, What's New and What's the Future', PotatoEurope 2021 promises to provide insight into current developments in the potato industry as well as a look at the future of the sector.

An international team of researchers has struck an important blow in the ongoing evolutionary arms race with the notorious potato disease late blight (Phytophthora infestans).

Royal Cosun (parent of potato processor Aviko) closed 2020 with a slightly higher group result than in 2019. Aviko had an exceptionally turbulent year. Lockdowns exerted pressure on Aviko’s turnover in the foodservice channel, whereas other business groups benefited directly or indirectly from higher sales in the retail channel.

Until December 31, 2020 the North-western European Potato Growers (NEPG) was a 5 country organization, but the organization started 2021 without the British AHDB. Also, Victor Pfaff stepped down as NEPG secretary and is replaced by Daniel Ryckmans.

Dutch criminals are increasingly using exports to Africa to launder money which is subsequently invested in diamonds and gold from the continent, FIOD chief Bert Langerak has said.

This year HZPC expects to own the first prototype of a hybrid potato variety. These potatoes will be sown instead of planted, and that offers a perspective for the food security of areas that are hard to reach.

With the pilot, 'smart big bags' HZPC uses the internet of things to share knowledge and get a better grip on the delivery process of seed potatoes.

Según Adrie Kleinjan, de la empresa holandesa Kleinjan's Aardappelhandel, el mercado de las patatas no pinta muy bien en este momento.

According to a report by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), an unknown variant of wart disease was discovered in agricultural fields in the municipality of Stadskanaal in the north-east of the country.

Potato coop Agrico held its annual central general members' meeting last week. During this online meeting, the annual figures for 2019/2020 were discussed and Agrico's digital transformation was addressed.

NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) is unsure of the current potato situation and does not expect major changes in the demand side of the market in the coming weeks.

During the half-yearly trading day of potato breeder HZPC Holding B.V., it appeared that the supply of certificates has increased again. The price of the certificate of share has been set at EUR 118,15.