Potato News from Europe

The dwindling availability of insecticide seed treatment and nematicides has paved the way for pest control using entomopathogenic nematodes.

Europatat warmly welcomes Elorn Plants, a specialist of seed potatoes production and sale based in Finistère, in western Brittany (France). The region is known worldwide for the quality of its seed potato production and the earliness of its shipments.

North Yorkshire potato grower Tim Rooke has been re-elected chair of the NFU Potato Forum. Tim, who farms 240 hectares of potatoes, also grows crops on 400 hectares of his farm.

The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 127.1 points in February 2025, up 2.0 points (1.6 percent) from its revised January level. While the meat price index remained stable, all other price indices rose, with the most significant increases recorded for sugar, dairy and vegetable oils.

Belpotato.be is surprised to learn of the proposals from some potato buyers, whereby they unilaterally reduce the contracted quantities from the buyer without any form of consultation in already signed contracts. This is unacceptable.

Herbort GmbH, a leader in food processing technology, continues to offer the Herbort Static Steam Peeler (HSSP) as a reliable and advanced solution for high-capacity steam peeling of potatoes and other root vegetables.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima toured a Cypriot potato field and a production facility Tuesday during a visit to the Mediterranean island nation. The visit featured a long tour of the farm and facility in Xylophagou and Liopetri, respectively, in the island´s renowned potato-growing region.

As part of the organizational changes announced last year, Tummers Group is taking the next step in this process. With Lennaert van Dijk transitioning from Managing Director of Tummers Food Processing Solutions to CEO of Tummers Group, a new Business Unit Manager has now been appointed to lead Tummers Food Processing Solutions.

French fries consumption ison the rise: per capita consumption of frozen potato products has been increasing for many years now. As a result, potato processing specialist Aviko Germany has been working at full capacity to meet the demand for frozen fries from retailers and food service alike.

Belgian machine builder Sticomax, the holding company above the companies IntOCon (BE), StuMaCo (BE), Romonta (NL), ViwateQ (NL) and DutchTecSource (NL), is acquiring Dutch sector colleague FoodeQ Engineering. 

Just one kilometre from the coast, in the Frisian village of Minnertsga, between the windmills, stands the newly built shed with a renewed sorting line of partnership Schuiling.

The European Snacks Association (ESA) has announced the next edition of its Savoury Snacks Production Course 1, set to take place from June 2 to June 4, 2025, in Budapest, Hungary.

They’re one of the UK’s most loved staples, providing around half of our carbohydrate intake as a nation and supporting over 20,000 farm, transport and manufacturing jobs.

En Castilla y León los costos de producción previstos son casi un 50% más altos que los precios de venta acordados con las industrias.

DCA Market Intelligence strengthens its position as a leading Price Reporting Agency (PRA) in the international potato market with the introduction of the DCA Potato Platform and three new exclusive Frozen Fries Indices. 

Seed potato breeding and trading company Royal HZPC Group, expects to achieve a strong result for the financial year 2024/2025 (July – June), with global total tonnage potentially surpassing the 1 million ton mark for the first time.

Sormac, a leading technology manufacturer for the vegetable processing industry, is showcasing four cutting-edge innovations at Fruit Logistica 2025, taking place in Berlin, Germany, from February 5-7.

Aviko, Europe's largest producer of potato products in the out-of-home segment and one of the top five world market leaders, has signed a trade agreement for seed potatoes together with Averis, a subsidiary of potato starch group Royal Avebe and specialised in the development, propagation and trade of starch potato varieties.