News on Sustainability from United Kingdom

Produce Investments (PI) acquires Biofresh Safestore, a leader in fixed crop management. Combined with Restrain’s natural sprout suppression, the move expands PI’s tech portfolio, offering flexible, innovative storage solutions across Europe and beyond.

Farming with Nature: Mapping the Growth Opportunity for UK Agriculture” maps 5.1 million hectares—almost one-third of the UK’s farmland—using geospatial data, on-farm assessments, and economic insights to guide sustainable and resilient farming practices.

Biostimulant strategies can help potato crops better cope with field stress conditions, as well as enhance tuber numbers and proportion of marketable crop, according to results of plots at Potatoes in Practice Open Day at the James Hutton Institute.

Aberystwyth University leads a cross-border AI project to combat potato late blight, a disease causing €4B in losses annually. The DeepDetect app will help farmers detect infections early, cutting pesticide use and boosting sustainable farming.

Open Farm Sunday 2025 saw a 20% rise in host farms, welcoming 200,000 visitors. The event strengthened public connections to farming, highlighted sustainability, and inspired youth interest in agriculture. Next year’s event is on 7th June 2026.

Potatoes in Practice, the UK’s biggest field potato event, is on 7 August at Balruddery Farm. Hosted by James Hutton Institute, it brings growers, researchers, and industry leaders together to share innovations and advance the potato sector.

GB Potatoes has joined HCP to secure vital crop protection authorisations for the UK seed potato sector, using AHDB levy funds. A new technical group will prioritise needs, ensuring sustainable, high-quality seed and ware potato production.

Join the James Hutton Institute's webinar on May 30, International Day of Potato, to explore UK potato production challenges and innovations in breeding, sustainability, AI tools, and pest control. Hosted by NPIC and Professor Ingo Hein.

KMC has partnered with UK-based Daymer Ingredients to expand its potato-based solutions in the UK. The collaboration focuses on clean label starches and aims to support sustainable, plant-based innovations for food manufacturers.

Greenvale’s Golden Kings launched ‘Move Over Maris’ with Great British Chefs to promote climate-friendly, high-yielding potatoes needing less irrigation and pest control, urging consumers to switch varieties.

The ambitious net-zero goals of leading potato supplier Branston have been recognised by a pioneering organisation that supports businesses around the world to tackle the climate crisis.

Fibe, a London-based material science company, has developed the world’s first textile fibre from potato harvest waste (stems and leaves), garnering the attention of investors and industry experts alike.

This year’s Hutchinsons Potato Demonstration Day, held at Worth Farms, Holbeach, Lincolnshire, focussed on potential solutions to address some of the key challenges faced by UK potato growers.

PepsiCo has announced a GBP 13 million (USD 16.9 million) investment in its Coventry factory, the home of Doritos.

Pringles make a major change to its tube packaging - and says it will prevent crisps. Most Britons will be familiar with the famous Pringles tube - but the crisp brand is now making a huge change to its packaging.

PepsiCo is trialling new multipack packaging for their Snack A Jacks range. Packs on shelves in Tesco stores across the United Kingdom will now use 86% less plastic on their outer packaging when compared with the previous multipack design.

In the United Kingdom, PepsiCo has scaled the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) – used cooking oil - across their supply chain in a move set to save 2,650 tonnes in GHG emissions annually.

OF&G (Organic Farmers & Growers) has welcomed Defra’s development of the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 (SFI) and the flexibility the expanded remit offers to organic farmers.