Potato Review

Extra 200 tonnes potatoes bought by French chain BURGER King France bought an extra 200 tonnes of potatoes and distributed amongst visitors during its campaign last month. The food chain recently gave its customers the free potatoes in a bid to help the potato farmers in the country who have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic situation and the closure of restaurants. 46 POTATO REVIEW MAY/JUNE 2021 INTERNATIONAL NEWS First Danish crop for sale – at half usual price THE first Danish potatoes of the year hit stores in Denmark on February 21st, bred by Karl Larsen in a greenhouse on Funen, with a total of 560 trays (200 grams) being o ered and sold at less than half their usual purchase price at DKK 50 [6,72€] per tray. Good start to Spanish season - but rains could slow things down THE early potato season in Spain got o to a good start but could slow as a result of rainfall in the key growing areas, a prominent Spanish potato producer warned. Juan Manuel Coello, Sales Director of Patatas Meléndez in Valladolid, which marketed 200,000 tons last year, said limited quantities of Spanish potatoes from Andalusia and Murcia had been supplied to customers since January and the campaign had been brought forward about 10 days this year. However rains in Murcia were slowing down the harvest. The acreage devoted to potatoes for fresh consumption in Spain is similar to last year’s, with some processing varieties reduced. Yields are good and retail demand is also good. Biodegradable packaging VALENCIAN potato distribution brand, Patatas Lázaro, has launched its first fully biodegradable plant-based packaging, which is now available in Spanish supermarkets. The packaging is made from paper and bamboo mesh and features water-based inks and vegetable- based glues, which make it fully recyclable. Longest processing campaign AT the end of February, AGRANA successfully ended its processing of the 2020/2021 potato harvest at its potato starch mill in Gmünd (Lower Austria). With a processing period of 189 days, this was AGRANA’s longest ever campaign in Austria. From 20.8.2020 to 25.2.2021, a record quantity of 322,000 metric tons of starch potatoes were processed at the Gmünd site, which is not only a considerable increase compared to the prior year (276,000 metric tons), but also a third more than the average of the last five years. The average starch content amounted to 17.8% (prior year: 18.3%). Toto apology POTATO Corner Thailand Co, a fast food chain, apologised for a “careless” Facebook post about its Toto mascot that coincided with the police arrest of “Toto”, a political activist. “Urgent news!!! Potato Corner, the first powder-mixed fries in Thailand, is arrested for being “too delicious,” the ad read. “Toto (assumed name) is arrested at a Potato Corner branch on the sixth floor of CentralWorld while eating three cups of power-mixed french fries,” the ad said. The ad was posted around the same time as the arrest of “Toto”, Piyarat Chonthep, a leading member of the We Volunteer (WeVo) guard group, along with other activists, at the Major Ratchayothin shopping complex.