Edition: 01-2025

The Red Carpet

Rolling out the red carpet is more than just a gesture, it’s a celebration of achievements and a promise to look to what’s yet to come. In the potato sector, as in life, moments of reflection and connection are essential to building a sustainable future. This thought was brought to life at the 2024 Potato…

‘The contract price increase has been crucial in the continuation of our success’

After three jam-packed and festive days at Interpom in the Belgian town of Kortrijk, Stefan Top’s eyes continue to shine tirelessly. ‘I’m still very much excited’, he laughs heartily when greeting us. Fortunately, in the busy programme covering 175 years of AVR, the director gets the full support of Marketing & Communications Manager Majna Seurinck.…

The potato deserves it

The United Nations (UN) decided in late 2023 – given the great potential of the potato – to celebrate International Potato Day annually on 30 May. Quote from the UN: ‘Solanum tuberosum, the potato, the world’s third largest food crop, contributes greatly to food security and nutrition, but also to the livelihoods and employment of…

Europatat Congress 2025: Deciding under uncertainty

The annual Europatat Congress is set to take place from June 11 to 13, 2025, at the prestigious Hôtel Barrière in Lille, France. Organized in collaboration with the French potato organization FEDEPOM, this highly anticipated event will gather professionals from across the European potato sector to discuss industry trends, challenges, and innovations.

Successful Dutch National Potato Harvesting Day 2024

Last year the Dutch National Potato Harvesting Day was organised for the fourth time by the Power to the Pieper (Potato) promotion campaign of the Dutch Potato Organisation (NAO). This year, the Dutch Potato Processing Industry Association (VAVI) was also involved in the organisation. A total of 12,050 kilos were harvested across the country. Of…

PotatoEurope 2025: international meeting point

PotatoEurope 2025, the premier international event for the potato industry, is set to take place on September 3 and 4, 2025, at the Wageningen University & Research (WUR) Open Crops location in Lelystad, Netherlands. This highly anticipated event will bring together professionals from across the potato value chain, offering a unique platform for networking, innovation,…

Potato Variety Days 2024 Spotlights on varieties with fewer growing days

Breeding new potato varieties with fewer growing days is increasingly in the spotlight due to the many advantages for both cultivation and marketing. However, a short growing season isn’t always synony­mous with an early variety; it’s also about the capacity of a variety to bulk up early. In addition, every market has its own definition of…

Fair prices are necessary for continued high-quality potato cultivation

Will the potato still be a ca$h crop in arable farming in 2030. This was the key question during the first seminar at the Dutch Potato Demonstration Day trade fair, under the direction of BO Akkerbouw director André Hoogendijk. Three guest speakers from different parts of the chain answered that statement with an unreserved YES.…

More efficient planting results in a higher yield thanks to management optimisation

By linking all available field data, various activities in potato cultivation can be optimised. This can be done, for example, by using newly developed management optimisation techniques, like researcher Puck Mulders, who works as operations manager in the Mechanical Engineering sector of Eindhoven University of Technology. Here, thanks to frequently available data from Van den Borne…

Hot potatoes

The potato crop does not like it hot. Potato is traditionally a crop of the cooler regions, either in temperate climate zones or at higher elevations in the tropics. Increasingly, the crop is also widely grown in areas where it might really get warm, and that results in lower tuber yields and lower tuber quality.…