Potato News from United Kingdom

May 29, 2012

Kellogg expected to bid for United Biscuits unit, Financial Times reports

Kellogg, the US foodmaker, and Germany’s Intersnack are expected to be among the bidders for the salty snacks division of United Biscuits, whose brands include Hula Hoops and KP nuts. The private equity funds that own United Biscuits, Blackstone and PA...

May 29, 2012

Scottish potato seed exports at record high

Scottish seed potato exports are at record high, the Scottish Government’s Rural Affairs secretary Richard Lochhead has told delegates to the World Potato Congress in Edinburgh. Mr Lochhead revealed that with another month of the season still to go, e...

May 28, 2012

Potatoes, PROUD not HUMBLE

Potatoes have a massive role to play globally. As well as delicious to eat in all their many forms, they are nutritious and address many of our food security and sustainability challenges, declared Potato Council chairman Allan Stevenson in his opening...

May 24, 2012

UB gives retailers more with 25 percent extra weight added to snacks

United Biscuits (UBUK) has announced that it will be adding 25% extra weight to its range of handypacks to offer consumers even greater value for money and drive sales for retailers. Available now, the new extra weight packs will be available for the t...

May 24, 2012

Marks & Spencer launches new potato variety Athlete

Marks &Spencer is launching a brand new, loose skinned new potato variety this summer called Athlete. The first small volumes of the new variety will be harvested in May this year, and will then be exclusively available in M&S stores nationwi...

May 16, 2012

British Farmers struggle with wet weather

British farmers are warning of possible price rises and even food shortages after admitting they are struggling to cope with some of the wettest Springs in history.

May 15, 2012

Potato company boss faces jail over Sainsbury's scam

A former potato firm director has been told he faces a significant jail term for his role in a bribery scam with a buyer at Sainsbury's.

May 14, 2012

Rhizoctonia hits in cold wet potato seedbeds in Britain

Rhizoctonia is running rife in cold, wet potato seedbeds and hampering crop emergence this season.

May 14, 2012

Scottish potatoes remain free from dickeya

The 2011/12 post harvest tuber survey for potato pathogen dickeya has been completed and all samples tested were found free of infection, Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) has announced.

May 13, 2012

Sheet and treat to minimise the blight risk from outgrade piles

As part of the Potato Council’s ‘Fight against blight’ campaign, the mapping of late blight outbreaks has demonstrated outgrade piles remain a significant source of blight in potato crops.

May 13, 2012

Syngenta launches Blightcast, a blight warning system for British potato growers

The Syngenta BlightCast system will give growers and agronomists a five-day advance warning of localised blight risks.

May 10, 2012

Poultry manure offers potential fertiliser savings to British potato growers

Until now substituting artificial fertiliser with livestock manures for potatoes has been a fairly unscientific art. This year a trial is taking place to assess the potential for significant cost savings.

May 09, 2012

Cool Farm Institute to improve farming and retail carbon footprint

A new institute to help farmers produce more efficiently and an updated software ‘tool’ that enables farming and food industries to calculate their carbon footprint are launched this week.

May 09, 2012

'Grow your own potatoes' contributing to AHDB Education Strategy

Both the ‘Grow Your Own Potatoes’ and ‘Cook Your Own Potatoes’ projects from Potato Council are making an important contribution to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Education Strategy 2012-17.

May 07, 2012

Price of potatoes expected to soar due to wet weather in Britain

The price of potatoes is expected to soar because the wet weather is delaying planting and slowing down harvests in Britain.

May 07, 2012

Changes to seed potato terms boost confidence of British growers

The British Potato Trade Association (BPTA) last week launched revised terms and conditions surrounding the sale and purchase of seed potatoes, providing growers with much-needed confidence that claims for contamination will be dealt with effectively.

May 05, 2012

Partner deal opens American gateway for SAS

UK-based Spice Application Systems (SAS) has signed an exclusive trading partner deal with Canadian company ARBO Engineering. The move is expected to open up major new opportunities for SAS to increase sales of its specialist electrostatic systems wit...

May 02, 2012

Potato corruption trial in the UK kicks off with two guilty pleas

A major corruption case in the potato industry has kicked off with guilty pleas from a former Sainsbury’s buyer and a former executive at potato supplier Greenvale.