Potatoes New Zealand represents the interests of New Zealand's seed, table, and process potato growers.

The potato industry is made up of around 290 growers who produce an estimated 500,000 tonnes of potatoes from 10,500 hectares in 2006.

This website is funded by the Commodity Levy paid by potato growers. The site aims to provide growers with timely information on industry events and developments, and be a first point of reference for industry specific research and technical information.

Some sections of this website are password protected and only available to levy payers and Potatoes New Zealand members. In order to view these pages you need to login or register.

7th WPC – March 2009

The 7th World Potato Congress was a magical experience and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing Canterbury and New Zealand with the global potato industry.  The feedback we are getting about the Congress and New Zealand is glowing. 

I met so many new people and learned many new ideas, I'm processing the information I collected, the contacts I made and the experiences I had.  It was a privilege to have met people from around the world who are as passionate as I am about our industry.

Our invited speakers not only are experts in their field but also are fine examples of the nature of potato industry people – generous, knowledgeable and with a practical, workable vision.  I challenge you to meet and include more people from the potato industry, those who attended the Congress and those who didn't make it, to further grow our industry.  As Ron Gall said in his thank you speech at the Congress Awards dinner, we are our own worst enemy and we need to stick together.

I would also add we don't realise the importance of the part we play on the world stage.  Potatoes are the ideal sustainable crop to help solve some of the world's problems, in particular the potential for us to feed the world in 2050 when the global population is expected to reach 9 billion people. We need to step up and remind our local consumers what a wonder food potatoes truly are.

Please take time to view the online proceedings from the Congress at the link below and follow the other links also. Thanks to those who helped organise the Congress, especially those growers who put time and energy into ensuring Potatoes NZ put on a Congress to remember!

Terry Olsen
Chairman, Potatoes NZ

• To view the Congress proceedings click here
• To view and purchase photos click here
• To view WPC 2009 merchandising click here or click here 

Excellent media coverage of International Year of the Potato

The New Zealand media got behind the Year of the Potato and in 2008 potatoes were featured in 552 media items, that's three news items every two days, which were worth in excess of $5.4 million in public relations exposure! The United Nations undoubtedly provided an excellent platform for our industry. Whilst the Year of the Potato may be over – it's always time for potatoes.  Click here to see what promotion activities are planned for 2009. 

Horticulture New Zealand weekly newsletter

The Horticulture New Zealand weekly newsletter is now available online - click here to download the most recent newsletter, or click here to download the previous edition.

Psyllid & Liberibacter workshop

On 26 March 2009 a workshop was held in Christchurch to discuss the psyllid, zebra chip, Liberibacter, and the new phytoplasma.  The proceedings of this workshop can be downloaded from the Research page.

Export potato statistics

The latest export potato statistics are now available, including exports divided by country, divided by month, and given in a time series.  This data can be found here.

Chips issue 44

The latest Chips newsletter has just been published - you can download it by clicking here.

World Potato Congress Proceedings & Merchandise

Proceedings from the 2009 World Potato Congress in Christchurch are now available online - please click here to find out more.  Following the 2009 World Potato Congress, WPC 2009 merchandise is now available - this includes the 100% silk ties which many people wore at the Congress, as well as the Scrub'a potato scrubbing gloves.  To find out more please download an order form by clicking here.

Potato Acreage Survey 2008

The latest potato acreage survey data is now available - members of Potatoes New Zealand can download this data by clicking here.

World Potato Congress 2009

The 2009 World Potato Congress was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 23rd until 25th March 2009. The Congress followed a "paddock to plate" theme by having concurrent industry and academic workshops. Covering topics from crop management to harvesting, processing of non-food product to what our consumers want, the Congress was designed to meet the needs and interests of the international potato industry participants and was a great success. Click here to visit the congress website.  Click here to download a brief congress report.

Psyllid monitoring

Plant & Food Research in conjunction with the Fresh Tomato and Fresh Vegetable Product Groups, Potatoes New Zealand, and McCains are funding the monitoring of psyllid activity in and around related crops; e.g. potatoes, tomatoes, and capsicums.  Click here to download the latest report, or click here to download the previous report..

Click here to view the potatoesnz.co.nz news archive.