Potato News from Asia

January 08, 2008

Bengal plans to export surplus potatoes to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand

To get rid of surplus potato production in the state, the West Bengal government is getting its act in place to explore possibilities of exporting table potatoes to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand which are deficient in meeting their internal demands...

January 05, 2008

Kerala likes Golden Fries

Golden Fries Ltd, a Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-based company that supplies frozen French fries, is seeing a rapid rise in sales in Kerala. 'We started supplying French fries in Kerala in July 2005. My first invoice was for 800 kg. Now, we sell on an avera...

January 05, 2008

Indian potato farmers strengthen export opportunities with GAP certification

Indian potato is all set to reach out to 80 countries, mostly in Europe, thanks to Indian farmers getting their produce certified by a global agency. Export prospects of potato are looking up with farmers taking Global GAP Certification for the product...

January 04, 2008

Frost hits potato crop in Punjab

Frost, triggered by intense cold wave conditions in the northern region, have hit the potato crop in Punjab damaging mainly the late sown crop. Experts fear that almost 15 to 20 per cent of the crop at several potato fields in Jalandhar, Kapurthala an...

January 03, 2008

Blight dashes potato farmers's hope in Northern Bangladesh

Farmers' hopes to recover flood losses by cultivating potato may be shattered as vast areas of potato fields in Nilphamari are attacked with 'early blight' and 'late blight' diseases due to dense fog and chilly cold.With expectations of good prices fro...

January 01, 2008

Fresh arrivals bring down potato prices in India

With new arrivals at mandis across the country, the potato prices have hit the rock bottom during the past one month.According to traders, wholesale prices of potato came down by an average 40-50 per cent in various mandis over the last one month.At Fa...

December 31, 2007

GAIN report: Malaysia oilseeds and products update 2007

Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) production rose 4.4 percent to 1.6 MMT in November. The increase in palm oil production and decline in palm oil exports more than offset the increase in domestic disappearance, resulting in an increase in carryout stocks...

December 27, 2007

Potato growers Pakistan concerned about falling potato price

A bumper crop of potato is expected this season and to protect the growers from losses, timely decisions are crucial for the export of the crop.Following the good crop, local price of potato has dropped as it went down to Rs6 to Rs7 per kg at retail le...

December 26, 2007

Nieuwe recordprijs voor palmolie op Maleisische beurs

De palmolieprijs is woensdag naar een nieuw record gestegen. Niet alleen is het product in trek voor het gebruik als alternatieve brandstof, palmolie wordt ook steeds meer gebruikt voor het bereiden van voedsel. Meer dan 80 procent van de productie wor...

December 23, 2007

Profile of Jerry Schafer, VP and COO at McDonald's China

It's a long way from the east side of Detroit to the east side of China, but that's the story of Jerry Schafer's career under the Golden Arches. Schafer, 53, is senior vice president and chief operating officer at McDonald's China. He grew up in the ...

December 20, 2007

Burger King plans expansion in Asia

Burger King, now making up for years of soggy growth and a decaying global business, is plotting an expansion into Asia in the coming half-decade to narrow the gap with arch-foe McDonald's. Chief Executive John Chidsey told Reuters on Thursday that the...

December 18, 2007

Floods in Malaysia may drive up palm oil price

Severe flooding in Malaysia looks likely to affect palm oil supplies for November and December, sparking a shortage that would drive up prices.Sabri Ahmad, chairman of Malaysian Palm Oil Board, told Reuters news agency that he expects December producti...

December 12, 2007

Late blight returns in Punjab

Late blight, a fungal disease that affects potato crop, has returned to haunt farmers here and the Punjab Agricultural University has issued an alert to growers after coming across fresh infections in a farm in Hoshiarpur district. "We have foun...

December 10, 2007

Wal-Mart to grow by more than 30 pct annually in China

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the world's biggest retailer, said it will keep expanding in China at more than 30 percent annually, as it won government approval to open its 100th store in the fast-growing consumer market. The U.S. retail giant currently...

December 10, 2007

Palm oil prices stay high despite mounting supplies

Crude palm oil production is up 4.4 per cent from October in Malaysia, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, but this has not led to a fall in prices amid the current volatility of the crude and soya oil markets.The total palm oil stock, including...

December 10, 2007

China frena un embarque de papas fritas de EEUU

El gobierno chino detuvo la importación de papas fritas de la firma multinacional Procter &Gamble luego de detectar una sustancia prohibida en las mismas.

December 08, 2007

Japanese trading house Mitsubishi wins bid to take over Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan

Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said on Saturday that it successfully completed a friendly takeover of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Ltd., which owns more than 1,500 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants around the country. Mitsubishi, which already ow...

December 07, 2007

Procter & Gamble says blocked Pringles shipment not intended for China market

Procter & Gamble said a small shipment of its Pringles-brand potato chips rejected by Chinese quality inspectors involved a product not designed for release in the China market. Charles Zhang, a Guangzhou-based spokesman for the company, told XFN-As...