News on Food Trends from Belgium

The breeding company Averis, located in Veendam, has joined Breeders Trust as a shareholder. Breeders Trust supports participating companies in protecting and enforcing plant breeder rights and contract terms.

GB Potatoes has been welcomed participation from all in the potato supply chain, including growers, packers, processors, seed growers, research organisations, independent advisors, and ancillary businesses.

Very late and difficult planting conditions and emergence problems on a large scale are cause of concern in some of the main production regions in North-western Europe.

Europatat is raising concerns about the draft report on Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) which is set for a vote in the European Parliament’s Plenary during the week of 22 April.

BELFertil and Belgapom collaborate to offer growers, crop supervisors, and advisors a new website dedicated to sustainable fertilization practices for potatoes.

With innovation, resilience, and a commitment to sustainability as its guiding principles, Pomuni is poised to continue its ascent, leaving an indelible mark on the agricultural landscape of Belgium and beyond.

Nothing as Belgian as a tasty packet of fries. But sustainably producing fries requires a lot of knowledge, development and collaboration with companies and researchers.

Europatat, the European Potato Association, is calling upon researchers and industry professionals to share information about ongoing research, and any other related activities which will help to control the spread of wireworms in potatoes.

The foreign material identification accuracy of TOMRA Food's sorting and grading solutions has won a prestigious International FoodTec Award for 'using artificial intelligence and cloud technology to improve food safety, quality, and traceability while increasing process efficiency'.

La temporada de cultivo de 2023 trajo desafíos sin precedentes para los productores de semilla de papa en Europa. Condiciones climáticas desfavorables y una reducción en la superficie sembrada han provocado retrasos en la siembra, disminución de los rendimientos y una importante escasez de semilla.

Scientists confirmed this week that summer 2023 was the hottest season the world has ever seen by a large margin. Europe is warming almost twice as fast as the global average, at about 2.2C above pre-industrial times.

Toxic datura and nightshade weeds are more often harvested with crops such as green beans and baby leaf spinach, with the risk of getting into the final product. Today, advanced sorting technology is capable to deal with these challenges

As part of a package of measures for a sustainable use of natural resources, the European Commission is proposing to set legally binding food waste reduction targets to be achieved by Member States (MS) by 2030.

Europatat is proud to become an active partner of a new EU Horizon Europe project called PATAFEST that aims at protecting potato plants by means of pest spreading and resistance characterisation, preharvest treatments, and post-harvest solutions.

The General Assembly of the European Snacks Association (ESA) has elected Sandy Iagallo, Senior Director Regulatory & Wellbeing Europe at Kellogg Europe, as its new President for the term 2023-2025.

Following the success of the promotion campaign Potatoes, prepare to be surprised – Europe’s favourite since 1536 that was launched in 2020 and finished at the end of last year

A recent report by the Global Coalition of Fresh Produce (GCFP) analyses the global trading environment for fresh fruits and vegetables and concludes a number of challenges threatening the long-term economic viability of the fresh produce sector worldwide.

Copa-Cogeca, Freshfel Europe, the European Fresh Produce Association, and Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, have taken note of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste that was published on 30 November 2022