According to Meredith Myers, Public Relations Manager for the United States Potato Board, "we have a target market that we are really trying to reach in significant ways; we call her Linda and she’s that marketing sweet spot of women who are between the ages of 25 and 54 with kids under 18 at home. Her attention is sought after by many marketers." The USPB has recently launched a new website along with pages on Facebook and Twitter. Brittany Mohr, Account Executive with Fleishman-Hillard says Linda’s friends have expanded.

De concurrentiepositie van de Amerikanen in de wereldwijde markt van aardappel-eindproducten staat onder druk. De marktprijs van aardappelen en daarmee de prijs van het eindproduct is de laatste twee jaren gestegen. Internationaal opererende verwerkers zouden om die reden de productiecapaciteit enigszins naar met name West-Europa verlegd hebben. Ook kopers uit alle hoeken van de wereld zouden in Europa beter tot zaken komen. Zo zijn de verwerkingscijfers in landen als Duitsland en België het laatste jaar fors toegenomen.

Con una inversión de alrededor de 8 millones de dólares, Sabritas abrió una nueva línea de producción en su planta de Vallejo, en la capital del País, para elaborar papitas horneadas más saludables. Pedro Padierna, presidente de Sabritas para México, Centroamérica y el Caribe, subsidiaria de Pepsico, explicó que este nuevo producto, que ya se comercializa en México bajo la presentación de "Sabritas Horneadas", es la nueva apuesta para atacar un mercado constituido principalmente por mujeres de entre 20 y 40 años, que buscan cuidar su peso.

The average Canadian eats 30 pounds of french fries per year. In China, per capita consumption is less than 3½ ounces. McCain Foods Ltd. is trying to turn the figures for Asia's largest country around. And there is hope for McCain, whose biggest fast-food restaurant chain clients, KFC and McDonald's are seeing exponential growth in China - a country of 1.3 billion people. Right now, top dog KFC is opening one new store in China about every 18 hours.

Columbia Basin growers ratified a 2010 contract with Lamb-Weston last week. The editor of North American Potato Market News, Bruce Huffaker, reported that this was to be the second year of a two-year contract, which was indexed for production costs. The settlement reportedly honored the price terms of the original agreement. The contract return declined slightly less than 12%, in line with the reduction in input costs. According to Mr Huffaker, the growers agreed to other material changes to the contract, to make it more palatable to Lamb-Weston. The 2010 contracts will still be acreage based, but they will include a cap of 3% over a target volume. The cap will be enforced for each grower, at the variety level. The settlement is likely to be a template for remaining settlements in the Columbia Basin. Mr Huffaker said the settlement with Lamb-Weston will be viewed as a benchmark for other negotiations across North America this season.

Hohe Bruttoerträge, niedrige Preise und eine geringe Lagerfähigkeit kennzeichneten den Kartoffelmarkt seit der Ernte 2009. Die vermarktungsfähigen Mengen blieben deutlich hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Dennoch glichen die hohen Erträge einen Teil des niedrigen Erzeugerpreises - mit ca. 8,00 €/dt in Bayern unterdurchschnittlich - aus: „Deutlich mehr Geld wird derzeit für druckstellenfreie Ware angelegt, die allerdings kaum verfügbar ist“, erklärt Willi Zellner von der BBV-Marktberichtstelle. Sehr gute Erträge und Stärkegehalte vermeldeten heuer auch die Stärkekartoffelanbauer.

McDonald’s officials are meeting with the Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI) to talk about potential new varieties of potatoes for French Fries. Jeanne Debons, executive director of the Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI), is meeting McDonald’s officials and other officials from within the potato industry in Caldwell, Idaho, Tuesday. Debons hopes the meeting leads to McDonald’s considering new varieties of potatoes for its French fries. She believes her organization has promising new varieties that will satisfy the fast food restaurant chain’s needs.

La cooperativa y asociación de productores de patata Prodeleco ha aumentado sus instalaciones de almacenamiento de manera que, desde que se inició la campaña, puede almacenar 14.00 toneladas de tubérculo, frente a las 11.000 que guardaba hasta ahora, en condiciones óptimas de humedad y temperatura.

US seed growers will have an opportunity to meet importers and growers and get an up-close look at Brazil's dynamic agricultural sector during a USPB led market visit to Brazil, this coming February 20 - 26. During the visit, delegates will have the opportunity to educate foreign importers & growers about the high quality US seed potatoes; increase export sales from the US; build relationships between US growers, importers & foreign growers; visit commercial fields; and discuss US Potato Board variety trials and US varieties that meet market demands, especially chipping varieties. All US Seed Potato Growers are encouraged to attend. Simply register by Friday February 5th. A limited number of grants are available that will cover up to 50% of the costs and will be reimbursed after the visit.To register of for more information, contact Sarah Mahler, USPB International Marketing Manager/Seed at sarah@uspotatoes.com or (303) 873-2334.

Die Botschaft, dass die Kartoffel nicht nur ein gesundes und dazu schmackhaftes Lebensmittel ist, sondern auch mit einer sehr guten Klimabilanz punktet, muss noch mehr in die Öffentlichkeit getragen werden. Das ist eines der erklärten Ziele von Martin Umhau, Vorsitzender der Union der Deutschen Kartoffelwirtschaft e.V. (UNIKA). Auf der diesjährigen Mitgliederversammlung am 2. Februar 2010 in Berlin wurde deutlich, dass die Kartoffelbranche gewillt ist, den kontinuierlichen Verbrauchsrückgang zu stoppen. Allein im vergangenen Jahr sollen deutschlandweit vier Prozent weniger Kartoffeln verkauft worden sein.