Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW MARCH/APRIL 2021 5 NEWS GYOP proceeds despite COVID THE AHDB’s Grow Your Own Potatoes (GYOP) Programme is continuing in 2021, despite the impact of COVID-19, with support from the potato industry, it has been announced. GYOP has been running for more than 15 years and is an educational initiative that helps children learn more about where their food comes from, how it grows and the role potatoes play in a healthy, balanced diet. The work is designed to fit between planting and harvesting and to align with curriculums in England, Scotland, and Wales. Labour costs increase for growers UK growers have seen labour costs increase by 34% since 2016, according to a new report by Andersons, commissioned by the NFU. With labour costs accounting for 40-70% of business turnover, NFU horticulture board chairman Ali Capper said we need to be looking at the supply chain and wider government policy to ensure British growers can invest and expand, not scale back. “Growers recognise and support the importance of the National Living Wage for people but fairer returns from the supply chain are needed to ensure businesses are sustainable,” she said. Agricultural workers are the sector most a¡ected by COVID-19, with an 8.1% increase in working hours, according to new research by residential rehab centre Delamere Health. Potato Head rebrand MEDIA speculations and social media posts about transgender issues have been rife since toy maker Hasbro announced it was dropping ‘Mr’ from its Mr Potato Head brand to break away from traditional ideas about gender roles and family structures. The toymaker has since clarified in a tweet that the Mr and Mrs Potato Head characters will still exist. They will still be sold under the gender-neutral rebrand. Boxes will now just carry “Potato Head” branding. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949 as parts to stick on real potatoes, to make inexpensive playthings for children during a time of economic hardship. Since then the toy has evolved to feature a plastic body. MD appointed to lead prepared teamat Branston SUPPLIER Branston has announced that Richard Fell has joined the prepared team as managing director. He will oversee Branston’s planned investment of £12m to expand its prep factory, to provide more capacity to meet increasing customer demand. Co-op bans unregulated gene editing UK supermarket Co-Op has announced that it will not stock products made from untested and unregulated ‘gene-edited’ plants. Co-op Chief Executive, Jo Whitfield acknowledged that genetic editing on potatoes and other vegetables is one of several new technologies and innovations that may in the future help to address challenges facing the global food system. However, she said it is important that consumers are assured about food safety and the environmental and economic impacts are thoroughly understood. The store is backing the #NotInMySupermarket campaign in response to the UK government consultation on removing regulations and labelling from plants created using a new experimental genetic engineering.