Potato News from Oceania

McCain Foods has announced it will close its potato processing factory in Penola, South Australia.

La investigación que adelanta la Universidad de Canterbury sobre papas libres de cadmio podría ayudar a eliminar otra posible amenaza a la seguridad alimentaria.

The Potato Marketing Corporation of Western Australia has started a campaign to increase the consumption of fresh potatoes.

Victorian potato growers will face fewer quarantine restrictions when selling their potatoes interstate.

More details have come out in the sale of Mr Chips by Simplot to New Zealand's Balle Bros, first reported by PotatoPro on August 18.

Supermarket chain Woolworths has released a report focused on the changes in the spending pattern of their Australian Shoppers over the past 25 years. The report also highlights the dramatic change in the position of the potato in that shopping cart.

Simplot Australia has announced that it entered into a conditional agreement to sell its shareholding in its New Zealand-based potato manufacturing and distribution business, Simplot Mr Chips Limited, to the Auckland based Balle Bros Group Limited.

A recent study by Roy Morgan Research shows that potato chips are still Australia’s most popular snack food, with a third of Australians aged 14+ in the year to March 2013 buying the product in an average four-week period.

AUSVEG, the National Peak Industry Body for Australian vegetable and potato growers, has welcomed the Prime Minister's acknowledgement of the importance of investment in agribusiness as part of his announcement of an election to be held on 7 September.

Third generation farmer Andrew Combes is the only commercial potato grower south of Hobart (Tasmania, Australia). What's more, the 36-year-old is the new Rabobank Simplot Young Potato Grower of the year.

Food processor Simplot Australia has rejected the Star system for labelling healthy and unhealthy food.

The State Government of South Australia has awarded AU$43,500 to the Potato Industry for initiatives to make sure workers have skills to meet increasing production demands.

A multi-year research project, undertaken for the Australian potato industry, will come to fruition this month, with the launch of the project’s cutting-edge DNA soil testing service, which will help the industry to curb the impact of soil-borne diseases.

Manufacturer of vegetable handling equipment Wyma has developed a series of Clean-In-Place [CIP] features for its Vege-Polisher™ and Vege-Peeler.

Several Tasmanian potato growers whose contracts were cancelled by McCain last year have rejected new contract offers from the company.

McCain Foods is bringing its new branding to Australia. The new branding, developed by brand agency BrandOpus, was first introduced in the United Kingdom and marked the first complete overhaul of the McCain logo in more than 50 years.

New Zealand Potato growers are spending NZ$240,000 (~200.000 USD) on research to try to find why their harvests have not been increasing.

Simplot brand Birds Eye has channeled sports commentating in its latest television campaign for its Hot Chips range.