News on Food Trends from United Kingdom

Tim, currently Chief Operating Officer of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), will take up his position at the Stoneleigh-based levy board on 31 August 2021, replacing Jane King. During the intervening period, the interim AHDB CEO will be Ken Boyns, AHDB Chief Finance, and Operations Officer.

A ballot to decide the future of the AHDB Potato levy has concluded and the voting report has been passed to Ministers for a decision on what happens next.

Planting a Green Headland on uncropped areas around potato and field vegetable crops can capture nutrients worth £200/ha over the growing season.

A move to cut down on food waste by selling unwashed potatoes – and in doing so potentially double their shelf-life - is being launched by Tesco.

The joint venture behind Mackie’s Crisps is investing £750,000 (just over 1 million USD) in a new production facility to scale up production of a new snack brand.

UK Potato Storage Specialist Crop Systems Limited is responding to major growth in its business with further investment at its factory and new appointments, including Tony Barnes as Sales Manager.

Agri-Food Chain Platform KisanHub has launched Paperless Load Passports. This solution allows users to manage the movement of products through the supply chain all on their mobile devices.

AHDB Head of Export Trade Development for Potatoes, Patrick Hughes spoke of the importance of the EU market to seed potato growers and how he was hoping for a rapid resolution to the prohibition on UK exports to the Continent.

To ensure the research AHDB funds has the biggest impact and benefit for the potato industry, they work to connect growers with researchers and scientists with initiatives like their Strategic Spot Farms.

The Scottish seed potato industry has harnessed willing buyers in Europe to support their efforts to get the European Commission to re-think its current ban on the importation of UK seed stocks – yet the chances of success remain 50/50.

The Grow Your Own Potatoes (GYOP) Programme will go ahead as planned in 2021 with the support of the potato industry.

In one year, a Scottish potato company removed almost 27 tons of plastic from its packaging.

The Scottish Government has said the seed potato industry is facing disaster through the Brexit deal. Exports of seed potatoes - a vital Scottish export - will not be part of a trade deal between the UK and EU

The GB potato industry accounts for over 117.46Kha of planted area this year, and is represented by 1,611 growers in 2020. Growers have faced difficult seasons of late.

NDC Technologies, a global leader in on-line and at-line process measurement and control solutions, introduces the next-generation Series 9 sensor suitable to measure

Pepsico UK has joined forces with British clean-tech firm CCm Technologies to reduce their carbon footprint by turning their potato waste into fertiliser.

A new marketing campaign to promote the benefits of the baked potato in the United Kindom by the AHDB will use in-depth consumer analysis to pick the right spud selling point for each segment of the market.

Sowing wildflowers into potato crops could reduce aphid-carried viruses and offer an alternative to declining access to insecticides for growers.