News on The Potato Supply Chain from United Kingdom

A seven-day celebration of the humble spud has been held to recognise one of the world’s most versatile ingredients that has had a presence on our dinner plates for more than 450 years. Hosted by the Potato Council, the first ever Potato Week builds o...

UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports grew to £5.8bn in the first half of 2011 – a rise of over 13% on the same period in 2010, as revealed by figures released by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). Exports to the EU increased by 12.6% to £4.4bn wi...

Aunt Bessie’s has announced a new variety to its market leading Frozen Potato range – Special Roast Potatoes basted in duck fat. The range has been developed in response to consumer demand for premium roast potatoes, following a number of chefs bastin...

Record numbers are expected at the potato industry’s event of the year, BP2011, which will be held at Harrogate in November. Entry will be free of charge and amateur growers can attend, although the event is not designed for them. Students thinking o...

A Scottish potato producer that supplies Birds Eye, McCain and Tesco has unearthed a 10 per cent rise in turnover in its maiden results as a listed company. Revenues at Duns-based Produce Investments grew to £171.4 million in the year to 25 June, boos...

Top potato researchers from Britain and The Netherlands have joined the speaker panel at the World Potato Congress (WPC 2012) due to take place in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 27-30. Exploiting the potato genome and how new-found knowledge will ultimatel...

Irrigate with the right amount of water, at the right time, in the right place, growers were urged by Dr Jerry Knox at the well-attended Potato Council East of England day (September 1, Tuddenham, Bury St Edmunds). Improved water efficiency may not ne...

To ensure efficient, robust and reliable box tipping, Tong Peal, the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of handling and sorting equipment for the vegetable handling industry, has introduced a new side eject box tipper.

Two Potato companies - Taylor Food Group and QV Foods - have signed a five year deal with the James Hutton Institute's Mylnefield Research Service (MRS) subsidiary to continue a potato breeding programme that originally started in 2005. Taylor Food Gr...

International seed breeders and exporters sharing the Potato Council stand enjoyed a very busy time at this year’s Potato Europe (Tournai, Belgium, September 7-8). “The record-breaking 2011 seed potato export season reflects our success in this secto...

Potato Council is introducing a wide range of potato related resources into secondary schools as part of the national curriculum after successfully piloting a new classroom project;‘Cook Your Own Potatoes’.  Following on from the increasingly popular ...

After the feared potato disease Dickeya Solani showed up in Scotland in imported seed potatoes in 2009 and 2010, a new survey shows no signs of the disease in 2011. The survey was carried out in support of Scottish legislation which established a &quo...

A Cupar farming partnership has been fined £112,500 after a worker was killed when he was crushed between the rollers of a potato harvester. Keith Wannan, 34, from Cupar, died as he was replacing rubber sleeves on the rollers of a potato harvester to ...

A potato grown by an amateur gardener in Nottinghamshire has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's heaviest. The 11lb (4.99kg) spud was grown by Peter Glazebrook in his garden at Halam, near Newark in Nottinghamshire. The prev...

Latest results from cultivations work at Cambridge University Farm show that working the soil at depth has had no effect on emergence this year, due to the dry conditions. "These are different to our previous results,"admitted Mark Stalham o...

The rising cost of irrigation was one of the topics discussed at the East of England Potato Day in Suffolk last week. The cost of applying water to potato crops is rising fast and has doubled since 2005, according to Jerry Knox of Cranfield University...

A vibrant brand identity and integrated PR and marketing campaign will position Rudolph as the potato variety that caters for all tastes. With its distinctive red skin, this premium red main crop potato is extremely versatile and reliable.

Potato prices in the United Kingdom have dropped again, with available supplies exceeding demand due to the early harvest. The Potato Council's weekly average price fell by 12% in the week to 19 August, to £120.65/t - £50/t below the same time last y...