Papas para el Procesamiento

What happens when Asia’s biggest potato chip maker runs out of potatoes? Japanese snack brand Calbee had to learn the hard way.

Drinks like sake and wine are often appreciated for their regional characteristics that are deeply rooted in the environmental conditions from the crop used. So, why not potato chips too?

Potato growers in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan's second-largest potato-producing region hope to boost their name recognition as a potato producer with a new variety, "Nagasaki Kogane" (Nagasaki Gold), which it filed for registration in 2015.

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.