News on The Potato Supply Chain from Australia

August 22, 2010

Taste drives demand for Hawkesbury organic potatoes

In New South Wales, Australia, Matt Simmons can barely keep up with demand for the organic potatoes he and wife Sue grow on their 48-hectare farm on the Hawkesbury River.

August 19, 2010

Australian Potato Industry fears Zebra Chip disease

AUSVEG CEO Richard Mulcahy said today that diseased potatoes had the potential to threaten the viability of the entire Australian potato industry if the Australian Federal Government allows potatoes to be imported for processing from New Zealand.

June 24, 2010

Tasmanian Potato growers ask Simplot for a 4 percent price increase

Potato growers who supply Simplot Australia’s Ulverstone potato processing plant have put their case for a four per cent price increase for the 2010/11 growing season, the equivalent of another $13 a tonne. Simplot has yet to respond to the growers’ p...

SARDI Plant and Soil Health Scientists Robin Harding and Kathy Ophel Keller worked to develop the DNA diagnostic diseases for potatoes

May 27, 2010

Testing soil for diseases before potatoes are planted

Australian scientists at SARDI are making major strides in diagnosing potato diseases before the potato crop is planted.Watch ABC video on this topicAustralia’s $500 million-plus potato industry will benefit from new DNA tests that can quickly and accu...

May 19, 2010

Australian potato growers concerned about zebra chip disease

Potato growers across Australia have been urged to protect the local industry from a major pest which has established itself in New Zealand. New Zealand potato producers have been coming to terms with the disease Zebra chip. The disease is seen as...

Hungry Jack's (Australian Franchise of Burger King)

April 13, 2010

Australian Hungry Jack's french fries now manufactured in Canada?

McCain Foods has told growers in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania it requires 10 per cent less potatoes for the 2010-11 season and wants to cut the price by AU$45 per tonne. A meeting of potato growers at Ballarat last week angrily rejected Mc...

April 07, 2010

Price cuts and volume reductions for Australian Potato Growers McCain Foods

Potato growers in the Moorabool region (Australia, near McCain Foods Ballarat factory) say they could be forced out of business after McCain Foods planned a AU$45 a tonne price cut next season. With McCain’s tonnage also set to be reduced by 10 per c...

March 08, 2010

Discovery of fat taste could hold the key to reducing obesity - link to BMI

A newly discovered ability for people to taste fat could hold the key to reducing obesity, Deakin University health researchers believe. Deakin researchers Dr Russell Keast and PhD student Jessica Stewart, working with colleagues at the University o...

February 08, 2010

AUSVEG criticises Australian government for lack of support around Fruit Logistica

AUSVEG Chairman, John Brent, today expressed dismay at the lack of Australian representation at the Fruit Logistica Trade Fair just concluded in Berlin and called on Australia’s political leaders to place more emphasis on the agricultural industry and ...

October 23, 2009

Remarkable reduction in trans fat consumption WITHOUT labeling in Australia and New Zealand

In a report published today, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has shown that intake of trans fatty acids (TFAs) from manufactured sources has declined in the Australian and New Zealand population by 25-40% since 2007. FSANZ Chief Scientist...

October 21, 2009

Potato growers Australia suffer as potato demand drops

Ballarat region potato farmers have slashed the amount of seed they will sow this week because of a drop in demand. McCain Foods (Australia) has reduced the quota it will take from growers after next year's harvest and will pay them about $35 less pe...

August 18, 2009

New strain of Potato Wilt in Australia overloads local markets

A new strain of bacterial potato wilt has reduced interstate markets for some Far North Queensland growers. The disease, which has been found in small patches at Tolga and on parts of the Atherton Tablelands, will prevent growers within a 20-kilometr...

June 16, 2009

The Tasmanian Potato Industry

Tasmania produces an extensive range of fresh and processed vegetables. As the highest value vegetable produced in the state, the potato is considered the backbone of the Tasmanian vegetable industry. With a farmgate value of $82.5 million, the potato...

June 05, 2009

Simplot and Tasmanian potato farmers have agreed on a lower potato price.

About 230 growers will be paid AUS$310-330 per tonne. That is $6 less per tonne of Russet Burbank potatoes and $9 less per tonne of other varieties. Grower Nathan Richardson is glad to finalise a deal and says Simplot has agreed to buy any potatoes ...

May 01, 2009

Simplot Australia oversupplied, can't buy surplus yields

Thousands of tonnes of Tasmanian potatoes may have to be dumped, because of falling demand for potato chips (french fries).Potatoes are being harvested now, but vegetable processor Simplot has told farmers it's oversupplied, and can't buy their surplus...

March 16, 2009

Heat takes toll on potato revenue in Australia

The South Australian Potato Company says heat damage has left half of its crops with some level of damage. The company's business development coordinator, Julian Carbone, says white variety colliban suffered the most damage. He says the company has lo...

February 09, 2009

Simplot Australia imports French fries from US to deal with drought

Tasmanian potato farmers are frustrated the vegetable processor Simplot has had to import potatoes [French Fries]from the United States to fill a shortfall caused by the drought. Simplot's Ulverstone plant in the state's north-west is operating 40,00...

February 05, 2009

McCain may be forced to forgo Ballarat potatoes

McCain Foods says it might have to rely on other sources for its potatoes this season, after last week's heatwave ruined many of the crops near Ballarat.Most potato growers in the region sell their produce to the Ballarat-based frozen food company.The ...