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Potato news from primary sources worldwide: processing plants and technology, seed and field, prices and trade. Each story is written by the Potatopedia Editorial desk from the original announcement, statistic or paper, and links it.
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Latest stories
- US fry processors grade candidate varieties at NFPT field day in Minnesota
Potatoes USA gathered breeders, processors and growers in Oct 2026 at the USDA-ARS Potato Research Station in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, to grade candidate frozen-fry varieties in the National Fry Processors Trial. Their ratings decide which selections move toward commercial use. Since 2011 the trial has released nine russet varieties.
- Trial on three South African cultivars links water, potassium to tuber quality
Researchers tested how irrigation at 40%, 70% and 100% of crop evapotranspiration and potassium at 0 to 200 kg per hectare shape tuber quality in Mondial, Markies and Panamera, three cultivars sold in South Africa. Deficit irrigation raised dry matter and ascorbic acid, while sucrose responded to both water and potassium, a paper published 11 Nov 2026 reports.
- Serbian trial links irrigation and N-K fertilizer choices to chip potato quality
Researchers at the Universities of Novi Sad and Belgrade report in the American Journal of Potato Research, published 28 Oct 2026, how drip versus sprinkler irrigation and nitrogen-potassium fertilizer strategies affected the chip-processing quality of three potato cultivars grown in Serbia from 2021 to 2023 and tested under commercial factory conditions.
- Study tunes image AI to tell six potato cultivars apart with 90% accuracy
A study in Potato Research, published online on 30 Oct 2026, reports that tuning a VGG-19 image-classification network with meta-heuristic algorithms improved how well it told six potato cultivars apart. The best method, Artificial Bee Colony, reached 90% accuracy on the test set, a 23% gain over the untuned standard approach.
- Review puts India's potato processing share near 7%, with frozen fries in the lead
A review by scientists at ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, published in Potato Research on 6 Nov 2026, finds India processes only about 7% of its potato crop, though that share is rising. Frozen fries make up 35-50% of the processed market, ahead of chips and dehydrated products, the authors report.
- Utz stockholders approve USD 2.9 billion Intersnack take-private deal
Utz Brands stockholders approved the company's sale to Germany's Intersnack Group at a virtual special meeting on 13 Nov 2026, based on preliminary results. The Hanover, Pennsylvania snack maker expects the deal, which pays USD 14.25 a share in cash at an enterprise value of about USD 2.9 billion, to close around 20 Nov 2026.
- Chinese study finds potato protein peptides can halve serum in cell culture
Researchers at Northwest Minzu University in Lanzhou, China, reported on 5 Nov 2026 that peptides made from potato protein, added at 1 g/L, let MDCK cells grow in medium with 5% newborn calf serum about as well as in the 10% serum control. The paper appeared in Food Science & Nutrition.
- Lorenz deploys four autonomous electric trucks at Neunburg vorm Wald plant
German snack maker Lorenz has put four cab-less, fully electric autonomous vehicles from Sweden's Einride to work moving finished goods, raw materials and empty pallets inside its Neunburg vorm Wald plant. The five-year project, presented on 4 Nov 2026, targets up to 1,200 pallets a day and replaces diesel in-plant transport.
- Lyckeby's FY26 report: starch output up, Scope 1 emissions rise in Sweden
Swedish potato starch group Lyckeby published its ninth sustainability report on 2 Nov 2026, covering Sep 2025 to Aug 2026. Starch output rose in Sweden and Czechia, growers added about 3,000 hectares, and Scope 1 emissions climbed to 9,115 tonnes CO2e in 2025. The group targets a 42% cut in Scope 1+2 emissions by 2030.
- Utz Brands Q3 2026 sales fall 2.3% as Intersnack take-private nears
Utz Brands, the US salty snack maker, reported net sales of USD 369.2 million for the quarter to 27 Sep 2026, down 2.3%, as volume and mix fell 5.2%. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 30.3% to USD 42.0 million on supply chain cost inflation, ahead of its pending take-private by Intersnack Group.
- Avebe launches PuraMYL 440 instant potato starch for cold-prepared foods
Dutch starch maker Avebe launched PuraMYL 440 on 12 Nov 2026, an instant potato starch that thickens cold-prepared foods without cooking. It is physically modified by thermal inhibition rather than chemically, so it can be labeled simply as potato starch. Target uses include cold sauces, dressings, emulsions, formed products, coatings and batters.
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