Scott Walker, CEO of GB Potatoes says that the humble potato has become emblematic of the pressures facing modern agriculture, according to a news report published by HortNews.
“For decades, the UK potato sector has been a reliable cornerstone of our food system,” he explained. “Affordable, versatile, and economically significant, potatoes have long been taken for granted. Yet growers, packers and processors have repeatedly faced periods of volatility, uncertainty, and sudden price shocks. None of these challenges are entirely new, but each successive crisis has chipped away at business resilience across the sector.”
From Brexit and the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, energy inflation, labour shortages and weather extremes, the industry has absorbed wave after wave of disruption. Each period of instability has forced difficult commercial decisions and, over time, has led some businesses to scale back or leave the sector entirely.
The challenge facing the industry today is not simply another difficult season, but the cumulative effect of years of sustained pressure, added to long-term drives to improve efficiency and remove cost from the supply chain, meaning there are no more savings to be made.
However, Scott remains cautiously optimistic, pointing to this summer’s GB Potato Summit which GB Potatoes is organising in partnership with the National Potato Innovation Centre, and which will together growers, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore how science, technology, policy and collaboration can help strengthen resilience and support long-term profitable growth across the sector.
Source: HortNews. Read the full article here
Image: Scott Walker. Credit GB Potatoes
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