Potato News from Canada

Many Canadian Potato growers have been dealing with a difficult two months with an unexpected supply of processing potatoes as a result of decreased sales of French fries, as sit-down restaurants shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

McCain Foods confirmed that layoffs have occurred at its Carberry potato processing plant in an email sent by the company to the Sun on Wednesday.

COVID-19 has shaken the whole world-impacting society and the global economy similar to the effect of a world war.

'This will help to ensure no product is lost so that farmers are in a good position for the 2020 growing season'

Restaurant closures have slashed demand although ‘chip sales have been great,’. French fry sales are down across North America as tens of thousands of restaurants have closed during COVID-19, which means the potato industry has to adapt quickly.

McCain Foods announced a donation of up to 20-million pounds of potato products to support Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest, and other local food security organizations across the country.

Cavendish farms haven’t laid off any staff yet because of the coronavirus (COVID-19), but a spokeswoman for the company says short-term layoffs are expected.

Québec Parmentier merges with Patate-Saint-Ambroise of Saguenay. The joint announcement was made by Pierre Chouinard, Chief Executive Officer of Québec Parmentier and Mathieu Bouchard, President of Patate-Saint-Ambroise.

COVID-19-related restaurant closures lead to ‘curtailment’ of french fry production. Cavendish Farms has advised the P.E.I. potato producers under contract to supply the company with spuds to 'sell to other markets if they can'.

More than $3 million is being invested in studying a major cause of potato yield reduction in Prince Edward Island and other spud-growing areas in Canada.

In light of the rapid escalation of safety precautions to decrease the transmission of COVID-19, the CPMA Board of Directors and 2020 CPMA Convention and Trade Show Organizing Committee have made the difficult decision to cancel the event.

The increase in world potato production stalled in 2018 and failed to recover significantly in 2019. World output slipped by 1.5% to 368.247 million tonnes in 2018 figures just released by the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation show.

A growing number of Prince Edward Island potato farms are taking advantage of new technology to improve their use of crop protectants, including fungicides used to prevent late blight.

Cheese obsessed Canadians now have another reason to be grate-ful! As of early January 2020, Kellogg Canada is bringing Cheez-It* Baked Snack Crackers – made with real cheese baked into every little square – to Canadians from coast-to-coast.

The International Potato Technology Expo and conference returns to the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island next month, February 21 & 22. The event welcomes those who grow and package potatoes...

The Little Potato Company, the number one grower of Creamer potatoes in North America and the world leader in specialty Creamer potato varieties, is kicking off their Big Game, Better Snacks promotion, running now through February 13, 2020.

Registration is now open for restaurants hoping to be crowned champion during the 3rd annual Potahto Week presented by Peak of the Market. The 10-day event challenges restaurants to put forward a signature dish made with Manitoba grown potatoes.

Annual event caps off 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2019 highlighted by CAD 75 Million in investments at facilities in Portage la Prairie and Carberry.