Potato News from India

PepsiCo Inc, the maker of Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay snacks and Tropicana juice, plans to invest $5.5 billion in India by 2020 to expand its presence in the country, it said on Monday.

Bending over backwards following pressure from other states and agitations by traders' associations there, the West Bengal government Monday relaxed its ban on export of potatoes

Since potato prices in West Bengal are fixed by state government, smuggling of potatoes to surrounding Indian states that do not have fixed potato prices has become a major issue.

West Bengal state government today started selling potato at Rs 13 a kilo, a price pegged by chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on a day potato traders in Bengal began a 3-day strike to protest the administration’s ban on selling the tuber to other states.

Despite well distributed rainfall in the monsoon, West Bengal, one of the most important potato growing zones in India, is likely to have major down fall in potato yield in next crop season. Courtesy- prevailing post monsoon meteorological disturbances.

Potato prices have almost doubled in most parts of India over the past one week. While most states are yet to take steps to check the spike in prices, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called a meeting on October 30 to review the situation.

Food &beverages giant PepsiCo India is believed to have backed out of the race to buy a stake in Rajkot-based Balaji Wafers.

The Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) in Shimla, India's premier potato research institute, has evolved a new technology to prevent conversion of starch into glucose in low temperature conditions, like cold storages.

Farmers from Kannauj and neighbouring areas have been throwing potatoes on the roads here, after a super bumper crop led to huge excess of supply over demand.

PepsiCo Inc., the world’s largest snack-food maker, is among suitors exploring a bid for India’s Balaji Wafers Pvt as it pushes to sell more chips in developing countries, said two people familiar with the matter.

Indian snack maker Balaji Wafers is in separate talks with private-equity funds, including Blackstone Group and Actis, to raise between $100 million and $125 million.

SI Solutions has said it is interested in setting up a potato processing unit in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh and requested land for it.

McCain Foods India Pvt. Ltd is having a strong India presence in frozen and ready-to-cook foods. Vikas Mittal, MD, McCain Foods India and subcontinent region, in a conversation with Ashwani Maindola, talks about the company’s India presence.

Contrary to NGO stories of exploited farmers and middlemen running riot, Gujarat’s potato farmers have scripted an entrepreneurial success story by teaming up with multinationals and other buyers of their produce

PepsiCo and Mondelez, along with their Indian counterparts ITC and Britannia, have been approached for a stake of Balaji Wafers - a 37-year-old india based wafer (potato chip), namkeen and savoury brand that dominates a number of states in western India.

Potato prices in West Bengal may depreciate by 8% on the back of a better crop prospect in south India. The south Indian crop is expected to enter the market next month which is likely to push down prices at the retail level.

One of India's states, Himachal Pradesh will impose a ban on using polythene for packaging non-essential eatables, especially potato chips and candies, from July 1, officials said on Sunday.

Wholesale merchants in Karnataka have started selling their stock of over 30,500 tonnes of potato seeds brought from Punjab.