From Field to Plate
Rooted in Europe's soil, the potato processing sector encompasses a wide range of products used in numerous meals throughout different cuisines and multiple eating moments of the day.
From field to plate, we prioritize quality, innovation, and sustainability, driving the growth of a sector that provides food security and fair income to growers.
EUPPA PRIORITIES for a Europe where our businesses can thrive and create value
1. Support global competitiveness and trade opportunities:
As food manufacturers, we contribute to Europe’s leading position in global food systems by providing safe, affordable and delicious potato-based products that travel the internal and the global market. Europe is one of the world's most competitive and high-quality sourcing points for potato-based products. However, our industry is at risk of becoming less competitive in the global market due to cost increases in materials and energy. The industry aims to continue investing and growing in Europe, but staying globally competitive is key to keeping up with these ambitions.
Over the years, the European potato processing industry has grown and flourished. It has become a €9 billion industry employing over 25,000 associates. The European potato processing industry was able to leverage potato acreage in terms of yield, quality and cost. It was able to benefit from an efficient and effective supply chain combined with an excellent logistic infrastructure that provided access to the European and international markets.
However, a growing global population, the pressure of climate change and threats to food security are pushing the world to transform the way it produces and consumes food. The world is at a crossroads when it comes to the food we eat, where we get it from and how we produce it. Substantial changes are already taking place, and more appear on the horizon.
The EU is taking the lead, where the path to a more sustainable EU food system is paved by sustainability goals and targets that are embedded in new EU and national legislation. The European potato processing industry, when chasing continued success, will embrace sustainability and will continue to include it in its strategy. In addition, the industry wants to hold on to its ‘license to operate’ and therefore will comply with a changing and more challenging legislative environment.
For our sector to thrive, it is crucial for EU policy to maintain an ambitious trade agenda and to be able to count on a level playing field in the EU internal market as well as fair trade in processed potato products globally. Europe should focus on providing healthy, nutritious, and sustainable food not only for its population but also for the world. This entails investing in innovation and research and positioning the EU as a knowledge export union. Collaboration with developing nations to support the development of thriving local food systems is essential.
2. Secure the supply of high-quality raw materials:
As the third most consumed food crop globally, potatoes contribute to food security and rural livelihoods around Europe. Our sector operates close to potato-growing communities and partners with them to share knowledge, adapt to climate change, improve soil health, and protect potato yields. This secures the long-term supply of high-quality potatoes for processing. Income security is key to sustaining farmers' livelihoods and within the potato value chain, we focus efforts towards fair revenue models for growers.
Agriculture stands as the backbone of rural communities, including those of potato growers. Navigating sustainability, fair living standards, and technological advancement is crucial for their future.
The EU is uniquely positioned as one of the most favourable regions for sustainable food production due to its geographical location, robust agricultural infrastructure, abundant natural resources like water and fertile soil, and wealth of knowledge and expertise.
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remain cost competitive while at the same time ensure food supply and safeguard the global export position of EU agriculture (including processed potato products). However, sustainability and resource protection must remain paramount.
Areas for sustainable development in potato farming include:
- Soil management. Healthy soils support stronger and more resilient crops, increasing not only the yield but also the quality that is harvested per acre. Our members encompass soil health into their sustainable agriculture plants and facilitate knowledge exchange with growers, for example by sharing measures that growers can take to improve soil parameters. By promoting regenerative agriculture practices tailored to potato farming, farmers can enhance soil health and resilience. This not only maintains yields but also helps withstand extreme weather events, contributing to broader environmental goals such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation, which are particularly crucial for potato cultivation. Financial incentives could reward regenerative practices and encourage adoption throughout the supply chain.
- Promotion of bio-alternatives: support the replacement of fertilizers and pesticides with bio-alternatives, guided by measures that facilitate the approval and application of biological plant protection products.
- Development of fit-for-purpose policies for fertilizer and pesticide usage, innovative irrigation and fertigation, alongside appropriate regulatory frameworks for new plant breeding innovations in agriculture.
- Programs to guide and educate farmers on sustainable cultivation practices, including crop rotation and responsible use of resources.
- Mitigate Environmental Impact. Implement strategies to reduce the overall environmental footprint of EU agriculture. This includes stewardship focusing on soil health, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, alongside targeted programs aimed at lowering farming emissions through relocation or efficiency improvements. This helps farmers to adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change.
To ensure agricultural resilience while minimizing environmental impact, the EU decision-makers should support the potato chain in its transition to more sustainable practices and innovative technologies. This is essential to address concerns around the risk of declining yields and quality, as well as increasing costs. Moreover, access to finance and to productive arable land is needed.
Policymakers, in collaboration with agri-food companies and financial institutions, must take action to invest in farmers and mitigate the financial risks associated with this transition. Moreover, EU policymakers should prioritise the adoption of new rules on plant breeding innovation, facilitating the development of new potato varieties that can withstand the challenges of climate change, such as water stress resistance or pest resistance.
3. Facilitate the ‘green transition’ in potato processing:
Sustainability lies at the very core of the European potato processing sector. Through innovation and strategic initiatives, our industry seeks to advance sustainable manufacturing practices, thereby supporting a greener and more resilient food system in Europe.
Potatoes play have a lower carbon footprint than most other agricultural crops. They contain good nutrients and can be grown sustainably - using less land and water than any other staple crop and therefore generating fewer CO2 emissions.
EUPPA members use innovation to drive efficiencies across their businesses. This is done in their production plants through reduced heat consumption, installation of heat recovery systems and biogas boilers for hot water, increasing the amount of reusable energy available, etc. Moreover, companies in the sector work towards offsetting CO2 emissions along its entire value chain, for example through short transport routes.
Water is a crucial resource in the potato operational processes and potato processors are substantial users of water. All EUPPA members re-use and recycle water to some extent in their own facilities, where feasible, whilst ensuring it does not impact food safety and product quality and that it complies with applicable regulations. Water for processing is typically recycled and reused to wash soil from incoming lots of raw potatoes, while complying with legal requirements.
European potato processors make it a priority to reduce food loss and waste from field to fork. This happens particularly in their own operations, according to the strategy “prevent, reduce, reuse, recycle and recover”, in order to contribute to the circular economy and send zero waste to landfill. EUPPA members have a long tradition of adding value to the by-products of potato processing by using them as ingredients in food, feed, biobased materials and/or biofuels.
EUPPA members manage to use 98.5% of the whole potato for different uses including food, animal feed (e.g. peels), biogas/renewable energy sources, and starch for industrial raw material (e.g. peels and potato starch). In total, our industry sends less than 2% of its combined organic and non-organic waste (e.g. metal, cardboard, plastics) to landfills.
In this area, EUPPA members are frontrunners in the evolution towards green energy solutions and are investing heavily in smart water management solutions. More examples can be found in the EUPPA Sustainability report.
Packaging plays an essential role in delivering the sector’s products to its customers around the world - safely, environmentally sound and of the highest quality. With packaging, sustainable interventions should never lead to less functional requirements. Loss of product safety and/or quality anywhere in the supply chain will always have even more impact on the environment. Packaging plays an important role in the food sector, by helping to reduce food waste, increase convenience, and improve both food quality and safety. Frozen food in particular requires packaging, which is why EUPPA members are developing innovative packaging solutions that will help protect the planet while optimising the safe and secure delivery of their products.
To continue this green transition, we call for an approach whereby there is policy and financial support for decarbonisation, innovation, and sustainable agricultural methods. This involves stimulation of investments in sustainable farming practices, renewable energy infrastructure, recycling, circularity, and zero waste management. It also entails fostering innovation through digital tools and implementing coordinated policy proposals that are measured for their impact, all while ensuring the global competitiveness of our industry.
