News on The Potato Supply Chain from Belgium

The European Commission decided on Friday April, 27 2018 to impose a complete ban on neonicotinoids, referring to the risk they pose to wild bees and honeybees.

Organisations representing potato farmers in Belgium and France, have started a project (interreg-GEPOS) to look for alternative destinations for potatoes in Belgium and the North of France in seasons marked by large surpluses.

Dewulf, full-line supplier of potato and root crop equipment, has officially inaugurated its new logistics
centre (SLC) at its headquarters in Roeselare, Belgium

The record year of 2016 for the Belgian potato processing industry continued into 2017, according to Belgapom, the Belgian potato trade and processing industry association.

Under the slogan 'Potatoes: a healthy, sustainable and responsible sector', the Congress will focus on the many assets of the sector in the, both politically and technical key areas of health, sustainability and responsibility of the business.

An investment of ‎€ 200 million (USD 250 million) in a brand new French Fry plant in Wielsbeke, Belgium. That's what Hannelore Raes and Filip Wallays expect it will take to push their family company Agristo into the top five french fry manufacturers worldwide.

The North-Western European Potato Growers report on volume and condition of the potatoes still in storage

Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, has confirmed the dates for its annual Europatat Congress. Under the slogan “Potatoes: a healthy, sustainable and responsible sector”, the 2018 Congress will focus on sustainability.

Europatat welcomes its new Communication & Policy Advisor, Berta Redondo

Although the full harvest is not in the stores yet, the North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) estimates the actual harvest at 28.9 million tons for the 5 countries. This is more than the estimate of last September.

Dewulf~Miedema - supplier of a complete line of agricultural machinery for the cultivation of potatoes and root crops - has selected Dewulf as its new official company name.

For the current European potato harvest, the North-western-European Potato Growers (NEPG) estimate the total potato production at 27.9 million tons for the five NEPG countries (Belgium, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Great Britain). This is up 13.5 percent compared to last season.

Op basis van proefrooiingen en praktijkresultaten verwacht de NEPG een totale oogst van 27,9 miljoen ton aan consumptieaardappelen in Noord-west Europa. Dat is 13,5% hoger dan vorig jaar.

In Belgium - and also in the Netherlands - drought has taken its toll on the early potato harvest. But for the main crop (for storage) a lot depends on the coming weeks and the month of August.

Karel Decramer has decided to quit as the sales director for the vegetable division of Dewulf, specialist in the field of harvesting technology for potatoes and carrots.

The total consumption potato area in North-Western Europe, has been estimated at 578.821 ha, which is 4.6% more than last year and 8.3% more than the 5 years average, according to the NEPG.

Last week on 15 & 16 June, the Europatat Congress 2017 took place. Feedback on the congress and side events has been extremely positive.

The Antwerp Court of Appeal has sentenced a farmer in the Belgian province of Antwerp to pay a large fine and damage compensation to Breeders Trust for not reporting his acreage farm saved seed for the varieties Asterix and Fontane which are protected under Plant Breeders’ Rights.