Potato News from Northern America

A long-time potato farmer in Ontario, Canada is getting into the french fry business. Gerry Philippe's new product — called Farmhouse Fresh Fries — are partially cooked in oil and put in a pouch, but they are never frozen.

A former Potato Growers of Idaho executive director believes Idaho’s capacity to produce and pack potatoes has outgrown the market, at the expense of growers.

The Board of Directors of McDonald's Corporation today announced that Don Thompson will retire as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors after nearly 25 years of service to the company, effective March 1. The Board has elected Steve Easterbrook to replace Thompson as President and CEO.

New Research Confirms French Fried Potatoes Are Not a Source of Trans Fat

Officials with Idaho’s pale cyst nematode eradication program say they’ve discovered three more infested fields totaling 994 acres since October, including two fields that had previously been deregulated from the program.

Heat and Control has just completed another continuous fryer system to produce 500 kg / hour of finished formed and stackable potato chips.

At the National Potato Council (NPC) Annual Meeting on January 9, 2015, in Orlando, Florida, seven NPC
past presidents were invited to come on stage.

POTATO EXPO 2015, held January 7-9, in Orlando, Florida, turned out to be the greatest event
yet for exhibitors and attendees.

Brendon and Sheldon Rockey of Rockey Farms in Center, Colorado, were named the recipients of the prestigious 2014 Environmental Stewardship Award presented at the National Potato Council’s 2015 Annual Meeting.

Inventure Foods has developed a potato chip flavoring made with sweet onion puree from real Vidalia onions.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the acquisition of an additional equity stake in Shearer's Snacks from Wind Point Partners, resulting in a significant majority ownership.

United States Potato Board President & CEO Blair Richardson surprised attendees at the POTATO EXPO 2015 with an industry challenge to install 3,000 potato-friendly salad bars in school lunch programs across the United States.

At the National Potato Council’s (NPC) 2015 Annual Meeting, held January 9-10, 2015, in Orlando, Florida, Dan Lake from Lake Seed, Inc. of Ronan, Montana, was elected to serve as NPC’s president for 2015 and to lead the council’s Executive Committee.

Key Technology announces the availability of Information Analytics, a powerful suite of software capabilities embedded within Key’s digital sorters.

El tizón tardío de la papa puede ser controlado con varias estrategias, incluyendo la resistencia del huesped. Desafortunadamente, los esfuerzos hasta la fecha para utilizarla han llevado a un éxito limitado. Este es el tema principal del artículo escrito por G. A. Forbes; M. Huarte para la Revista Latinoamericana de la Papa, Volumen 18 (2), 2014.

Once again, the Washington State Potato Commission and Oregon Potato Commission have joined forces in the planning and execution of the 2015 Washington/Oregon Potato Conference, Jan. 27-29.

TOMRA Sorting Food will display two of its state-of-the-art sorting machines and steam peeling XP valve at the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) Expo and Conference 2015.

Nearly 20 fire departments responded to flames at a Montcalm County potato farm (Michigan) Wednesday, but none of the potato storage buildings, housing farm equipment and millions of potatoes, could be saved