The Spanish Potato Forum, formed by representatives of associations of supermarkets and production companies, cooperatives and packers, met at the headquarters of FEPEX, in Madrid, and agreed on a SWOT analysis of the sector in Spain, both in terms of production and of the remaining links in the value chain, as a basis to plan joint actions, including those intended to boost consumption.
The analysis highlights the need for better understanding of the nutritional and culinary qualities of potatoes by consumers, as well as the opportunity of implementing a new marketing standard that significantly improves information to consumers and helps in the differentiation of new potatoes and storage potatoes, as well as the country of origin.
The sector's SWOT analysis will be the basis for the Forum to study joint actions, including the possibility of presenting a programme to promote consumption along with other EU partners, based on the new Regulation 1144/2014 of the European Parliament.
At yesterday's meeting, the Forum elected José Ramón Aguado, also president of FEPEX's Potato Committee, as new president.
The Spanish Potato Forum was formed with the goal of creating a meeting point for every link in the value chain. This latest meeting was attended by representatives of large retailers and associations of supermarket chains: ANGED, ASEDAS and ACES; potato producers and marketers, Cooperativas Agroalimentarias, as well as the associations that constitute the FEPEX Potato Committee Potato: the National Association of Production and Trade of Fruits and Potatoes, ASONAL; the Association of Producers and Exporters of Fruits and Vegetables of Andalusia and Extremadura, ASOCIAFRUIT; the Iberian Club of Potato Professionals, CIPP; the Association of Potato Operators at Origin of Castile-Leon, ASOPOCYL, and the Association of Potato Producers of Spain, APPSE.