News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

Torrential rains that nearly destroyed north Florida’s potato crop shouldn’t seriously disrupt the U.S. spring potato deal. A week of late May heavy rains flooded fields with 27 inches of rain and destroyed up to 70% of the deal’s potatoes. Tony Rusko...

Columbia/Okura’s A-Series robotic palletizers provide the ideal solution for the demands of today’s high capacity potato packers. They use an end effector ('robot hand') designed specifically to handle the inconsistency of potato bags,.

A week of heavy rains has caused what one Putnam County potato grower called a tri-county disaster."We had 13 inches of rain by noon Wednesday,"said Crescent City grower Joey Froehlich."It's a disaster - it's too wet and I think people w...

There is something about the Greenlandic earth that is preventing fungus diseases like mould from attacking and destroying Greenlandic potatoes. This has piqued the interest of Danish researchers, reports Politiken Søndag newspaper. ‘If we can identif...

The 13 major US potato States held 115 million cwt of potatoes in storage April 1, 2009, down 9 percent from a year ago and 5 percent below April 1, 2007. Potatoes in storage accounted for 31 percent of the 2008 fall storage States' production, slight...

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is urging the Obama administration to quickly resolve a trucking dispute with Mexico to aid export of Washington farm products, including frozen potatoes, that are now the target of the 20 percent duty.Canadian potato gro...

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is taking issue with the P.E.I. Potato Board's interpretation of how much money has been paid out for crops ruined by rain last summer. In October, a $12.4- million compensation plan was announced, cost-shared b...

This month, Frito-Lay kicks-off its largest ever marketing campaign called "Lay's Local" to celebrate the more than 40,000 Americans across the country who grow the potatoes we use to make Lay’s brand potato chips, who make the chips at Frito...

Unsafe levels of sodium chloride, or salt, in chain restaurant meals increase one's chance of developing hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonprofit food safety and ...

P.E.I. potato farmers are unable to access anywhere near the amount of money that was promised by the federal government to help them with crops damaged by rains last fall. Last fall, the federal government announced $12.4 million in disaster assistan...

The Prince Edward Island Potato Board today welcomed the confirmation of assistance for storage losses that occurred as a result of the extreme wet weather in the fall of 2008.  The Board learned of the assistance via a federal government news release...

Idaho potato farmers are planting the state's signature crop, and some are making changes based on reduced processing contracts.Processors that make french fries and other frozen potato products have reduced overall contracted potato acreage in the Nor...

Remember the days of sticking a fork into a potato a couple times, then popping it into the microwave for 10 minutes or so? That’s ancient history … or, at least it’s heading in that direction. Microwaveable packaging is quickly catching on, according...

Harvest a red, yellow or purple specialty potato and its skin color will be shiny and bright. That’s paramount, because skin quality drives buyers to put a particular potato in their shopping cart. Store that potato for a month or two, and its skin co...

The most anticipated retail promotion of the year, the 2009 Potato Lover’s Month Retail Display Contest, proved to be yet another blockbuster hit for the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) with over 2,150 entries, an 11% increase in participation over 2008....

Just when it looked as if spring had arrived, southern Alberta was hit with one last snowstorm. However, for potato growers, it should not cause much concern.That was the word from Edzo Kok, executive director of the Potato Growers of Alberta. He esti...

Potatoes live. Potatoes breathe. And because Potatoes are 80 percent water, these tubers thrive in humid locations. Take heed, consumers wondering about the best spots in your homes to store your potatoes.

Private label growth didn't start gaining momentum in the downturn. Not only have private label brands been gaining share for the past decade, experts say these gains are the single-biggest problem facing branded packaged goods players. House brands,...