News on Food Trends from Australia

Potatoes Victoria is being launched today to replace the previous Victorian Potato Growers Council. A division of the Victorian Farmers Federation, Potatoes Victoria has been representing Victorian potato growers for more than 20 years.

Potato growers say the West Australian industry has 'collapsed' amid speculation over the timeline for deregulation.

Heat and Control has helped a snack manufacturer take processing capabilities to a new level with another delivery of the
company’s innovative vacuum fryer technology, the Unitized Vacuum Fryer (UVF)

Australian Researchers are working closely with the country's potato industry to investigate the potential for the highly destructive Tomato-potato psyllid (TPP) to enter Australia using natural pathways.

The impact of drought and water quality on Australian potatoes could be significantly reduced by a new research project from Potatoes South Australia and Landmark Australia.

Potatoes are becoming more appealing to Australia’s innovative home chefs ('Eager Explorers') who are searching for the next exciting food trend, according to new consumer research.

UK chip brand, Tyrrells Potato Crisps Ltd, has acquired the Australian company Yarra Valley Snack Foods, producer of the Thomas Chipman Organic Chips range.

Consumer research in Australia, Potato Tracker, has shown that Australian consumers prefer to purchase pre-packaged potatoes, with one to two kilogram packages as the ideal sizes.

The South Australian Potato Industry has received funding of $100,000 to enable a project to add value to potatoes which are graded-out due to size or shape and do not meet supermarket specifications.

It appears that many Australians don’t know their King Edwards from their Kennebecs, with the latest wave of the Potato Tracker consumer research project indicating that some people can’t name a single variety of potato, despite being the most commonly purchased vegetable commodity.

A Tasmanian potato grower - known for her innovative use of the vegetable - has been announced as a keynote speaker at this year's National Horticulture Convention in Queensland, later this month.

The Premier of Western Australia, Colin Bartlett, reportedly told The West Australian that it was time for rules that dictated the varieties, quantities and price of potatoes grown in Western Australia - and the Potato Marketing Corporation - to go.

The Potato Marketing Corporation of Western Australia has announced plans to take legal action against Galati, who owns a chain of grocery stores called the Spudshed as well as being one of the state’s largest growers.

AUSVEG has welcomed the signing of a work and holiday Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian and Vietnamese governments, which could assist Australian vegetable and potato growers fill labour shortages during peak harvesting times.

AUSVEG remains wholly unconvinced of the benefits of a grower-funded generic potato marketing campaign despite claims from the Potato Marketing Corporation of Western Australia that the initiative has been a success in that state.

Potato growers in Western Australia have invested heavily in a potato marketing program aimed at stopping the decline in consumption per capita of fresh potatoes.

In South Australia, McCain has sold its former potato processing factory at Penola to a meat processor, to the dismay of some local growers.

The weather might be warming up [well, in Australia that is, not here in Canada...PP] but that isn’t stopping Aussie consumers tucking in to a hearty serve of mashed potato, according to the latest wave of the industry-funded Potato Tracker project.