Sustainability

The ambitious net-zero goals of leading potato supplier Branston have been recognised by a pioneering organisation that supports businesses around the world to tackle the climate crisis.

Fibe, a London-based material science company, has developed the world’s first textile fibre from potato harvest waste (stems and leaves), garnering the attention of investors and industry experts alike.

This year’s Hutchinsons Potato Demonstration Day, held at Worth Farms, Holbeach, Lincolnshire, focussed on potential solutions to address some of the key challenges faced by UK potato growers.

PepsiCo has announced a GBP 13 million (USD 16.9 million) investment in its Coventry factory, the home of Doritos.

Pringles make a major change to its tube packaging - and says it will prevent crisps. Most Britons will be familiar with the famous Pringles tube - but the crisp brand is now making a huge change to its packaging.

PepsiCo is trialling new multipack packaging for their Snack A Jacks range. Packs on shelves in Tesco stores across the United Kingdom will now use 86% less plastic on their outer packaging when compared with the previous multipack design.

In the United Kingdom, PepsiCo has scaled the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) – used cooking oil - across their supply chain in a move set to save 2,650 tonnes in GHG emissions annually.

OF&G (Organic Farmers & Growers) has welcomed Defra’s development of the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 (SFI) and the flexibility the expanded remit offers to organic farmers.

Bredel hose pumps are contributing to a sustainable solution for steam potato peeling provided by TOMRA Food which reduces water usage, water treatment and food waste.

CNH Industrial and ONE SMART SPRAY, a joint venture between Bosch and BASF, have signed a collaboration agreement to integrate the latter’s advanced spraying system within CNH Industrial’s agricultural brand product portfolios.

From melting glaciers and flooding to drought, rising global temperature is affecting agriculture in many ways. Potato production is also taking a hit.

Leading UK potato supplier Greenvale AP Ltd has partnered with Trinity AgTech to roll out Trinity’s natural capital navigator, Sandy, to farms across the country, supporting them in credibly and confidently analysing and reaching their environmental targets.

Without phosphorus food cannot be produced, since all plants and animals need it to grow. Put simply: if there is no phosphorus, there is no life. As such, phosphorus-based fertilisers – it is the "P" in "NPK" fertiliser – have become critical to the global food system.

In the last six years, one of the UK’s leading potato growers has saved over GBP 300,000 (USD 330,000) through an unconventional but highly effective use of Stocks AG’s Rotor Meter.

An innovative method of controlling a range of damaging crop diseases using native, beneficial soil bacteria has emerged from a research-industry collaboration.

It’s clearly understood that improved farm productivity is good for business and more recently, for carbon footprint. But the challenge has always been how to measure the cost of producing a particular crop with regards to carbon.

A new practical guide to assessing soil carbon promises to answer British farmers’ key questions at a time when many are looking to understand their soil health. It was produced by Duchy College, Plymouth University, Rothamsted Research, and the Farm Carbon Toolkit.

Waitrose and Partners is set to be the first major retailer to sign up to The UK Robust Potato Pledge, which will see the group move away from the use of copper-based fungicides on organic fresh potatoes in order to combat late blight Phytophthora.