News on The Potato Supply Chain from Northern America

Eighteen years ago, the Idaho® potato industry was in crisis. Consumers were shunning potatoes due to the rising popularity of low-carb diets, the new consumer focus on buying local (locavore movement) was beginning to expand across the country and the Idaho® potato farm gate revenue was declining.

Spring into the new season, full of warmer weather and new recipes in Tasteful Selections® second quarter of the 'It’s the Little Things' Campaign.

Three awards were presented to well deserving industry members at the Prince Edward Island Potato Board’s monthly meeting in March 2021. In addition, the award winners will be recognized at the PEI Board Annual Banquet in 2022.

When Michael Moeller decided in 2019 that he wanted locally made potato chips for Milwaukee, he had no idea just how local they could be.

California based potato company Tasteful Selection install the first microgrid in the Central Valley, delivering sustainability and energy resilience with islanding and outage ride-through capability.

Potatoes in the United States and Canada are a commodity. When selecting varieties, the color of the skin tends to be the primary consideration. As the new managing director of HZPC Americas Corp, Jeff Scramlin sees opportunities to increase market share by highlighting the distinguishing characteristics.

Potatoes USA, the marketing and promotion board for the U.S. potato industry, elected new leadership during the Annual Meeting on March 11, 2021. The newly elected Chairman and Executive Committee will lead the Board through 2021-2022.

The Boards of Directors of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh) have reached an Agreement in Principle to create a new global trade association combining their resources and expertise.

The National Potato Council(NPC) and 26 leading food and agriculture associations have expressed concerns over the rapid deterioration of the trade relationship between the United States and Mexico

Double L, a prominent manufacturer of farm equipment in the Intermountain West, announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by a group of Idaho investors, creating opportunities for growth.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has lifted its voluntary suspension of export certification for P.E.I. seed potatoes, allowing trade to the United States to resume.

The National Potato Council (NPC), which represents America’s $4.5 billion potato industry, welcomed last week's bipartisan 247-174 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Seed potato exports from Prince Edward Island to the United States halted last fall now closer to resuming.

The National Potato Council (NPC) welcomed yesterday’s reintroduction of the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and urges its rapid passage in the House of Representatives.

Jake Blauer is the newly hired post-harvest potato physiologist at Washington State University.

At the National Potato Council (NPC) 2021 Annual Meeting held virtually due to travel restrictions, Dominic LaJoie of Van Buren, Maine was elected to serve as NPC’s 2021 President and to head the grower-led organization’s Executive Committee.

On February 17, 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court released a draft ruling that would overturn a 2017 lower court decision preventing the Mexican federal government from implementing regulations to allow the import of fresh US potatoes throughout the country.

United States potato exports continue to recover but remain behind previous year levels. Exports for the first six months of the marketing year, July – December 2020, are behind the record levels set in 2019.