Potato News from India

February 20, 2008

Gujarat set to reap bumper potato crop

Gujarat, once known for its huge production of banana, is expected to have a bumper potato yield this year. While the crop is expected to have poor harvest in eastern part of the country, the situation is opposite in Gujarat. Potato production is incre...

February 14, 2008

India: Potato futures up on concern output will fall

Potato futures rose on Thursday on speculation a persistent cold wave in the northern region could hurt output, analysts said. On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, potato futures rose more than 1 per cent, with the most active March contract at Rs...

February 12, 2008

McDonald’s plans food processing unit in Punjab

McDonald’s will set up a food processing unit in Haryana or Punjab with an investment of Rs 100 crore to complement its sourcing activities in the local markets. “We are in discussion with both Punjab and Haryana for opening a food processing plant, wh...

February 07, 2008

Cold weather takes toll on potato harvest in India

India’s potato production in 2007-08 is likely to grow by half its earlier estimate on account of crop damage due to a cold wave in the north, home to the biggest producing regions, a senior official said. “Area has increased in almost all major produc...

February 07, 2008

Interview with Frito-Lay India marketing execs Gautham Mukkavilli and Deepika Warrier

The branded snacks market has seen increased activity with the entry of FMCG heavyweight ITC. FritoLay, the market leader in this segment, is now faced with the task of guarding its position, even as competitors set targets to garner more than half the...

February 04, 2008

After 17 yrs, McDonald's expects to earn profits in India

Riding on the back of a major expansion spree, global fast food chain McDonald's on Monday said it expects the Indian operations to be profitable from the next fiscal, 17 years after it set up shop in the country. The company, which achieved break-even...

February 03, 2008

McDonald's Maharaja Mac may soon travel by train

Millions of rail travellers may soon have the option of gorging on McDonald's burgers on-board trains, discussions for which are on between the railway authorities and the global fast food giant. Buoyed by the successful bid for opening a restaurant at...

February 02, 2008

Frito-Lay steps up the fight for the Indian snacks market with new marketing campaign

With the branded snacks market buzzing with new entrants, the FritoLay division of PepsiCo India Holdings has kicked off a marketing campaign “Chala Change Ka Chakkar”, which the company claims is its biggest ever portfolio initiative in 2008. As part ...

January 25, 2008

Frito-lay India ropes in cricket star Dhoni as brand ambassador

PepsiCo India Holdings FritoLay India division has roped in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, youth icon and ODI captain to team up with Saif Ali Khan and Juhi Chawla to launch a FritoLay portfolio promotion called 'Chala Change Ka Chakkar' in February 2008.Dhoni ...

January 17, 2008

India's ITC Q3 Net Rises 16 pct, Beats Forecast

India's top tobacco firm, ITC Ltd, on Friday beat market forecasts with a 16 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong growth in packaged foods and hotels, as it bolsters its non-cigarette businesses further.

January 15, 2008

Bengal all set to gain from potato

West Bengal farmers are now on a track to tap profit from potato cultivation and even started several organised potato processing unit in the state. It seemed to them very profitable compared to any other crop within their limit. According to a recent ...

January 10, 2008

AFT France plans more potato flakes units in India

France-based agricultural company, Advanced Food Technologies (AFT), is planning to set up a couple of potato flakes plants in the Hoogly district near Kolkata. Both the plants with capacity of producing 1200 kg/hour of flakes, would also facilitate...

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 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 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...