Potato News from India

Kurkure - extruded snack by Frito-Lay /Pepsico - highly popular in India

April 06, 2009

Processing industry in India to consume 10% of potato output by 2010-11

India's potato production has seen a phenomenal increase since the 1950s, mainly due to strong demand from the processing industry and remunerative returns.

March 27, 2009

Punjab faces potato glut again

Crop diversification — from conventional wheat and paddy crop to potato — hasn’t proved to be a great idea in Punjab. A glut of potato has again hit this season — the produce can be seen dumped on roadsides — with the growers now contemplating reducing...

March 06, 2009

PPM Technologies Joins Forces with Flavorite Foods & Services Pvt. Ltd.

PPM Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier to the global food processing industry has joined forces with Flavorite Foods &Services Pvt. Ltd., an India based food machinery and technology supplier. Flavorite Foods &Services Pvt. Ltd., headquart...

March 05, 2009

Farm level puffed potato cube production project near Mumbai

Throughout the last two years, CTI volunteers Shiv Murty, Steve Laible, and Nancy Laible have been in contact with Prof. Narendra Shah at the Center for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bomba...

February 26, 2009

Punjab: 3000 MT of potatoes to be exported to Sri Lanka & Dubai

Punjab Cooperation Minister Captain Kanwaljit on Thursday revealed that with the facilitation of Markfed, Punjab 3000 Metric Tonne of potatoes would be exported to Sri Lanka and Dubai. Due to bumper crop of potato this year, farmers were finding it ve...

February 12, 2009

Potato production in West Bengal may dip 30% due to late blight

Potato production in West Bengal is likely to be 30 per cent less than the previous year on account of late blight disease.Naren De, West Bengal agriculture minister said at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) that potato ...

February 09, 2009

Punjab to export 3,000 tonne potato to Middle East

Faced with crash in potato prices due to bumper crop in Punjab, the state sovernment has decided to export 3,000 tonne of potato to the Middle East besides selling another 2 lakh tonne to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and...

February 06, 2009

Do Indian potato farmers benefit from Potato Futures?

The Indian government introduced futures trading with much fanfare in several commodities, including potato, as a tool to aid farmers to hedge their risks and help in getting better prices. But most in the industry dismiss the government claims with ...

February 02, 2009

Punjab Potato Farmers anxious as potato prices crash

Potato prices in Punjab have crashed to almost a seven-year low at Rs 1.5-2 per kg because of bumper production, leading to a glut in the market. Worried at the huge prospective loss, potato growers of the state have sought help from the Punjab govern...

January 27, 2009

Indian Govt may allow McCain Foods to charge a 'Management service fee' to Indian subsidiary

The Indian government is considering a proposal to allow foreign multinationals to impose an 'annual service fee' on their Indian subsidiary for providing management services. The foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, while allowing payment of royalt...

January 15, 2009

Frito-Lay expands West Bengal Potato Chips plant.

At a time when global recession has hit investments across the world, Pepsico has decided to invest Rs 250 crore more in its Frito-Lay potato chips plant at Sankrail in Howrah district, West Bengal.The new investment will give a boost to potato produc...

January 15, 2009

Frito-Lay’s factory in Sankrail is caught in a stand-off over land possession

The snack-food division of PepsiCo Inc.’s Indian unit finds itself caught in a miniature version of the stand-off in Singur that led to Tata Motors Ltd driving its dream small car project out of West Bengal to Gujarat.

January 02, 2009

Pepsico takes measures to ensure potato supply in India.

Having faced sourcing issues for potato in 2008, food and beverage major PepsiCo is planning to ensure supply by introducing farming equipment and technology and new potato seed varieties to decrease chances of crop loss. It also aims to increase the...

December 24, 2008

India's potato output in 2008 may be 15% higher

India’s potato output is estimated to rise 15.38 per cent in 2008 owing to the favourable climatic conditions. The total output of the so far evergreen vegetable is likely to rise over 30 million tonnes in 2008 compared to over 26 million tonnes in 200...

December 15, 2008

Pepsico India to raise area under contract farming for potatoes

Pepsico is planning to increase its sourcing of raw materials in India from contract farming and venture into new states regarding this.The company's foods business unit, Frito-Lay, procures 50 per cent of potatoes, required for making chips and strips...

December 11, 2008

'India's share in global potato trade is 0.5 percent'

India may be the third largest potato producer in the world but its contribution to global potato trade is merely half a percent, industry officials and experts participating in the Global Potato Conference said here Thursday.

November 10, 2008

Kashmir may soon have its own brand potato chips to serve the local market

Despite availability of indigenous raw material – potatoes – for snacks production, Jammu and Kashmir imports potato chips worth 100 crores every year. The Valley produces more than 20,000 tons of potatoes annually.The trend of importing snacks from ou...

November 04, 2008

Pepsi to unleash 'power of one' in India

Pepsi Co is setting up a new leadership structure in India. Its two companies in India — PepsiCo India Holdings and snack food company FritoLay Indiawill be headed by Sanjeev Chadha who until now was only leading the beverages business. The move is in ...