News on Food Trends from New Zealand

The recent study by McCain on potato production in New Zealand, following a regenerative agriculture approach, presents promising results for the future implementation of these practices.

Six months into the Potatoes New Zealand chief executive role and Kate Trufitt has embraced the challenges and opportunities with enthusiasm.

By adopting integrated pest management (IPM) practices growers are not on their own, Australian entomologist, Dr Paul Horne, told Pukekohe potato growers at a Potatoes New Zealand research update breakfast meeting in late March.

Timaru’s McCain vegetable processing factory in New Zealand is now producing french fries using a boiler system powered by woodchips instead of coal, seeking to minimise waste by 20 per cent.

A NZD 5.6 million (about USD 3.5 million) project to eliminate CO2 emissions and reduce demand for heating fuel at McCain’s Timaru factory will soon use woodchips to make their frozen french fries.

Colin and Donna Craig-Brown found the questionably large potato growing in their yard in November 2021. They even named the potato Dug and submitted their surprisingly large find to Guinness World Records (via Food & Wine).

A New Zealand couple named Donna and Colin Craig-Brownla found a 25-pound potato by surprise buried in their backyard and ended up naming it Doug.

In New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has released its Interim Report (Essential Facts and Conclusions) on the investigation into European dumping of frozen processed potato into the NZ market.

TOMRA Food has launched the most comprehensive online learning resource for packhouse professionals in the fresh produce industry. Packhouse Academy, powered by TOMRA Academy, offers a wide range of videos, webinars, and training modules.

McCain Foods Timaru potato processing plant is reducing its energy usage environmental impact, now looking to electrification, by installing Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology, a first in New Zealand.

While in the Northern hemisphere we are harvesting potatoes and getting ready for winter, this is not the case in the Southern hemisphere. This article offers tips on how to grow potatoes in your New Zealand backyard.

Potatoes New Zealand is asking the New Zealand government to give urgent consideration to imposing short-term measures limiting the importation into New Zealand of heavily discounted frozen potato chips to avoid a food security threat.

Farmers are among New Zealand's essential workers, so farms and fields are remaining busy keeping food on Kiwis' plates. And despite panic-buying, there is no shortage. New Zealand could survive on potatoes alone.

New Zealand supermarket chain Countdown says its biggest selling potatoes are white washed potatoes. Customers also prefer that their potatoes are locally grown

FPS Food Process Solutions Corporation has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Total Solutions Limited, a leading fabricator of food processing equipment and conveyor systems in Auckland, New Zealand.

End-to-end traceability in the food supply chain can do more than safeguard against potential disasters, particularly at the processing stage. Geoff Furniss, Head of BBC Technologies within TOMRA, explains how.

The Latest Potatoes New Zealand Industry Volumes & Values

A research project in New Zealand is determining if different field soils affect development of powdery scab on potatoes, and whether soil physical, chemical and/or biological characteristics influence this important potato disease.