News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

The most anticipated retail promotion of the year, the 2009 Potato Lover’s Month Retail Display Contest, proved to be yet another blockbuster hit for the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) with over 2,150 entries, an 11% increase in participation over 2008....

Just when it looked as if spring had arrived, southern Alberta was hit with one last snowstorm. However, for potato growers, it should not cause much concern.That was the word from Edzo Kok, executive director of the Potato Growers of Alberta. He esti...

Potatoes live. Potatoes breathe. And because Potatoes are 80 percent water, these tubers thrive in humid locations. Take heed, consumers wondering about the best spots in your homes to store your potatoes.

Private label growth didn't start gaining momentum in the downturn. Not only have private label brands been gaining share for the past decade, experts say these gains are the single-biggest problem facing branded packaged goods players. House brands,...

Potatoes are 55 per cent more expensive now than a year ago, Statistics Canada says, and grocery prices overall rose more in March than at any time in the past 28 years.Potato prices are particularly hot, but double-digit increases have been recorded f...

The potato industry is backing a bill that would change the 20 year-old national truck weight restriction from a maximum of 80,000 pounds up to 97,000 pounds, which could allow them to ship 19% more potatoes at the same cost.Potato grower-shippers and ...

Members of the United States Potato Board recently elected Maine chip stock grower Tom Qualey as Chairman of the Board, an honor last bestowed upon a Mainer more than two decades ago. It is an achievement not easily earned but rather the result of hard...

The 13 major potato States held 115 million cwt of potatoes in storage April 1, 2009, down 9 percent from a year ago and 5 percent below April 1, 2007. Potatoes in storage accounted for 31 percent of the 2008 fall storage States' production, slightly b...

Despite their microscopic size, Columbia root-knot nematodes (CRN) have potential to inflict huge losses—about $40 million annually—by tunneling into potatoes to feed.

The Tobique-Mactaquac Member of Parliament has called for the RCMP to investigate why eight Grand Falls region farmers were never paid for potatoes shipped to a Quebec processing company between August and December of 2008.Conservative member Mike Alle...

You don't need your own private Idaho to grow potatoes. Greg Lutovsky, who has been growing potatoes as a business since 1993, says you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 square feet.

The Colorado Restaurant Association has launched a statewide public awareness campaign to encourage dining in restaurants. A $170,000 promotion, with the slogan “Fork the Recession … Feed the Recovery,” started this month and runs through May, with TV...

All new potato varieties developed by the Pacific Northwest Tri-State Breeding Program are now licensed to PVMI (the Potato Variety Management Institute), a non-profit marketing and administration organization for the Tri-State Potato Breeding Program.

What is the 'right' price for potatoes for processing?
In the classic model price is determined by supply and demand. Several models exist.
But the reality is even more complex.

Texas Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso and Rep. Carol Alvarado of Houston, both Democrats, are pressing for legislation that would phase in bans of trans fats in restaurant foods — a move they said would help fight obesity and reduce health insurance co...

McDonald's Corp, el mayor comprador de la papa en los Estados Unidos, ha acordado adoptar los primeros pasos para reducir el uso de plaguicidas en las explotaciones de sus proveedores nacionales, dijo el martes un grupo de accionistas . Tras el acuer...

McDonald's Corp, the largest purchaser of potatoes in the United States, has agreed to take preliminary steps to reduce pesticide use in its domestic potato supply, shareholder groups said on Tuesday. Following the agreement, the Bard College Endowme...

Interview with Barry Young, Distilling Master and Co-Owner of Pennsylvania Pure Distilleries, makers of Boyd and Blair Vodka.Boyd and Blair Vodka is potato based vodka that has some very unique characteristics to it.