GRIMME Launches Production in China
In the presence of more than 200 high-ranking guests and employees of GRIMME-China, on May 25, Franz, Christina and Christoph Grimme opened a new high-tech factory with an area of 12500 m2 in Tianjin, 130 km southeast of Beijing. Investments in the project amounted to 13 million euros, which is one of the largest investments in a foreign project in more than 150-year history of the company.
Project manager Christoph Grimme emphasized: “The plant is designed for modern production, and we can provide the same high quality of manufactured equipment here as at the main plant in Damme.” Initially, the main focus will be on the production of equipment for planting, care, collection and storage of potatoes, designed specifically for the Chinese market.
GRIMME has been active in China for over 20 years. This country is the largest producer of potatoes in the world, more than 5 million hectares are allocated for the cultivation of this crop. The Chinese government has declared potatoes one of four staple foods and intends to significantly expand its production.
Dirty potato leaves the net?
With the beginning of the supply of imported young potatoes this year, the largest retail chains stopped buying Russian bulk “dirty” product. Losses of Russian manufacturers in this regard may amount to about 6 billion rubles.
The national fruit and vegetable union, which wrote an appeal to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, announced the current situation in the market in mid-May.
The letter addressed to Deputy Minister Yevgeny Nepoklonov said that Russian potatoes are not available in Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Karusel networks (all are part of the X5 Retail Group), Lenta and Billa stores. Currently, the indicated networks present products from Azerbaijan, Egypt and Israel. According to the Union, in spring and summer, retailers prefer to trade in imports, citing the low quality of local products.
The problem with spoilage of Russian potatoes by the end of spring existed in previous years due to the shortage of modern storage facilities, admits Mikhail Glushkov, executive director of the fruit and vegetable union. But now, in his opinion, much has changed: “Since 2015, modern storage facilities for more than 500 thousand tons have been built, but retailers do not want to buy Russian products, out of habit, switching to import.”
From the point of view of the participants in the National Fruit and Vegetable Union, the actions of the networks damage the Russian potato market. According to the organization, in 2017, from April 30 to the end of July, 365 thousand tons of product were imported to Russia. Based on the average wholesale price of 16,55 rubles. per 1 kg, the possible losses of Russian manufacturers from network restrictions can be estimated at 6 billion rubles. Restrictions may especially affect producers of dirty potatoes.
Based on materials from KVEDOMOSTI.RU
The largest plant for the production of french fries opened in Lipetsk
At the end of April in the Lipetsk region, the grand opening of the large-scale French fries potato plant was built by the Belaya Dacha group of companies together with the US-Dutch Lamb Weston / Meijer. The volume of investments in the project amounted to 8,7 billion rubles (about 115 million euros).
To meet the plant’s needs for quality potatoes, Belaya Dacha Group created a farmer’s school and its own production base with a sown area of 2 thousand hectares and a potato storage in the Tambov Region. Own farm will supply about 30% of the volume of raw materials necessary for the plant. The rest of the raw materials will be purchased from domestic farmers through long-term contracts. Over the past five years, Belaya Dacha agronomists have trained agricultural producers in 16 regions of the country in the most advanced technologies for growing high-quality varietal potatoes, which has increased the yield to 500 kg / ha.
The first consumer of the plant’s products will be the Russian branch of the McDonald's restaurant chain, which, according to the online publication Fakt24, plans to completely stop importing French fries from Poland in the near future. It is expected that the plant’s capacity will allow the delivery of processed and frozen potatoes to 651 restaurants in the chain.
The plant is also counting on contracts with other catering companies and retail chains throughout the country and is considering exporting its products. “The plant has the potential for growth and the ability to supply not only across Russia and the CIS countries, but also a great export potential,” said Vladimir Tsyganov, a member of the Board of Directors of Belaya Dacha, at the opening ceremony.
As noted by the head of the administration of the Lipetsk region Oleg Korolev, the company will be able to fully supply the country with french fries, forcing out a foreign product from the market. According to the FCS, in 2017, Russia imported 117 thousand tons of frozen potato, mainly from the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and France.
This opinion is shared by the National Fruit and Vegetable Union of Russia. In mid-May, the head of the union, Sergei Korolev, turned to the Department of Economics, Investments and Market Regulation of the AIC of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia with a proposal to ban the import of frozen French fries from the United States and other countries that supported sanctions against Russia. The document indicated that in 2017 the share of imports of frozen French fries was 94%, but now Russia has the capacity to produce a sufficient amount of product.
Potato milk
Swedish scientists have come up with another alternative to regular milk - a potato drink.
Plant-based products are popular all over the world.
Researcher from the University of Lund (Sweden) Eva Thornberg closely engaged in the development of potato milk.
She noted that it was important to enrich the potato milk with the necessary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fatty fish.
Omega-3 acids are able to eliminate the negative effect on the body of harmful fatty acids and neutralize the products of their oxidation.
Thornberg found that creaminess can be achieved if the protein and starch in a potato is heated in a certain way and mixed with rapeseed oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Potato milk will contain 6% canola oil. This means that 250 ml of alternative milk will cover half the daily omega-3 intake. In addition, the new dairy product is allergen free.